November 7, 1999

The World Series Interview of Pete Rose Off Base

NBC-TV’s interview of disgraced baseball star Pete Rose during a World Series warm-up was grossly inappropriate, but the big mistake was inviting him.

He admitted gambling big bucks with bookmakers on football and basketball games while playing baseball. He served prison time for failing to pay income taxes on large fees he charged for autographing baseball cards at conventions.

He denied – but evidence was compelling – betting on baseball games while manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

For these transgressions, Rose was banished for life from baseball. Memories are too strong of the 1919 World Series in which eight Chicago White Sox starters were bribed to lose. They -- and Shoeless Joe Jackson who ultimately was found innocent – also were banished. Their statistics were expunged from the records.

Controversy over treatment of Pete Rose has moved from the playing field to the news room.

Was NBC “reporter” Jim Gray justified in badgering Rose to “apologize” in a post-ceremony interview for his gambling conduct ten years ago? Rose had just been introduced – along with nine other players – as a member of a “Millennium Team.” He received the loudest applause of all the baseball greats there.

Was Rose judged too harshly? Should he be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown? A majority of baseball fans apparently think so.

As a journalist of 63 years experience -- including sports writer, news reporter, editor, syndicated columnist and publisher -- I weigh in critical of Gray’s ambush tactics and Rose’s former ethics.

Most television news hounds – they are not journalists -- try to titillate viewers. The practice of jamming a real-time camera and microphone into the face of an emotionally charged person is brutal.

We used to have “sob sisters” on newspapers, but their outbursts were desensitized by after-the-event publication devoid of eye-ball engagement. Today, emotional claptrap is the purview of super-market tabloids and round-the-clock television.

One of the important functions of a newspaper is to provide experienced editors – one step beyond reporting -- to evaluate information available for space available. Their responsibilities are to select a balanced “budget” of news, make sure it is as accurate as possible and is presented without “slanting” language.

Journalism’s 24-hour news cycle permits a limited amount of time to make these decisions. However, it is more judgmental than television’s “gotcha!” A newspaper reporter has time to rephrase a question if it is asked clumsily. The person responding can restate the answer if it didn’t reflect intention adequately.

Reporters have to ask tough questions on occasion. It’s their job. However, questions should be pertinent to the event. TV talking heads tend to ask such unfeeling questions as: “Except for that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?”

Pete Rose was invited to a joyous event unrelated to his past sins. There was no reason to single him out for interviewing -- except to embarrass him. It was discordant of the situation, even if Rose is otherwise despicable. The question would have been proper if asked the previous day when he attended an autograph convention at an Atlantic City casino.

It is a tragedy that Rose blew an illustrious playing career because of his addiction to gambling. If professional games are not straight arrow, the romance and pleasure is gone for spectators.

Big-time football, basketball and boxing stars found guilty of drug addition, rape, theft and rowdyism are given slaps on the wrists. Maybe they sit out a few games, but that’s it. Nonetheless, baseball is the oldest of American sports and loaded with nostalgia. It deserves a squeaky-clean reputation.

Comparative statistics are a large attraction for fans. Records lose their meaning if not honest and the players trustworthy. Thus, it is appropriate that Rose be kicked out of the game and his now suspect records denied official recognition.

Sports fans who forgive their idols of grievous faults descend to their level. There is more to life than the vicarious thrill of someone else’s’ defeat of an opponent.

There is something positive about Pete Rose. He serves as a bad example.

PARTING SHOTS

Al Gore has hired Naomi Wolf, a sexual fantasy author, to help him project the image of a dominant “alpha male” that she insists is essential to election. Perhaps so, but first he has to get rid of his Omega reputation.

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Ten Congress women marched across the Capitol to badger Sen. Jesse Helms’ conference on foreign aid. They wanted a resolution condemning the practice in some primitive countries of mutilating women’s sexual organs. He implored the intruders to “act like ladies,” then ordered the seargeant-of-arms to evict them. Those were not ladies seen last week, they were Congress persons.

By Lindsey Williams, columnist for Sun Coast Media Group newspapers