Joe Morgan Watch

"All those years, I was the guy who said Pete [Rose] needs to be punished, and he has, for 16 years," Hall of Fame infielder Joe Morgan said in Wednesday's Philadelphia Inquirer. "If you are going to let people into the Hall who have done steroids, then you have to let Pete Rose in, because this [steroid scandal] has hurt baseball more than what Pete did.

Joe Morgan thinks that Pete Rose should go into the Hall of Fame if a steroid user does. Why? Well, I'm not sure exactly. He says that the steroid scandal has hurt baseball more than Pete's gambling did, but he doesn't really say how. Gambling on a sport by the participant calls the entire competitive aspect of the sport into question, and frankly, I don't see what could hurt a sport worse than that. But Joe thinks that if a steroid user gets into the Hall, that Rose's punishment is suddenly rendered too harsh. Well, here's the problem, baseball has it's own rules, and while 16 years seems like a long time, let's look at the rule governing gambling:

"Any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible." (Major League Rule 21)

Permanently ineligible? Sounds like Pete's got a long way to go on his sentence. If Joe wants to lobby to have steroids users banned from baseball permanently, that's fine with me. But every time he's asked what the punishment should be, he manages to dodge the question. Seems to me that Morgan's more concerned with getting his buddy into the Hall of Fame, than keeping steroid users out of it.