Pete Rose: “I Picked the Wrong Vice”

Since Major League Baseball handed out its most recent suspensions, Pete Rose seems to be the "go to" guy for nearly every interviewer.

Why?  Oh, it isn't because of his firsthand knowledge of performance enhancing drugs (he doesn't), it's because the game's hit king is the only living soul out there that knows what it is like to carry with him the scarlet letter of being banned from baseball.  Rose accepted a lifetime ban in 1989 after his gambling habits surfaced and, unless you've been living under a rock, he's been pretty open about it.

"I made mistakes. I can’t whine about it. I’m the one that messed up and I’m paying the consequences. However, if I am given a second chance, I won’t need a third chance," Rose told Pittsburgh radio station 93.7 The Fan. "And to be honest with you, I picked the wrong vice. I should have picked alcohol. I should have picked drugs or I should have picked up beating up my wife or girlfriend because if you do those three, you get a second chance. They haven’t given too many gamblers a second chances in the world of baseball."

Dude's got a point.

Also part of Rose's conversation with KDKA's John Phillips…the Hall of Fame.

"If I ever made the Hall of Fame, I’d be the happiest guy in the world. But I don’t want you to think that I go to bed at night praying I make the Hall of Fame. When I go to bed at night, I pray that I wake up tomorrow morning. That’s where I’m at in my life right now," Rose said.  "I will continue to sell the game of baseball. Talk positive about the game of baseball. Defend the game of baseball which you know right now is awfully hard to do today."

Hey, if this whole "Hall of Fame" thing doesn't work out…I've got another suggestion.  Just sayin'.