Joe Morgan thinks Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame

You’ll be shocked -- shocked! -- to hear that Joe Morgan thinks Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. From Bob Nightengale’s latest:

“I think if you’re going to allow guys with PEDs on the ballot,” Morgan told USA TODAY Sports, “then we have to allow him to be on the ballot. Let’s face it, he’s been punished for 24 years. I think they have to take a second look at Pete now that this has come out.”

Nowhere does Morgan explain what actual nexus there is between “this coming out” and Rose’s baseball disgrace, but after watching him do Sunday Night Baseball for so many years I’m aware that cause-and-effect are not his strong suits. For now let’s just chalk this up to one of the strongest baseball forces out there: “my generation was better/was not as bad as this younger generation"-ism. The greats were greater, in [insert player’s] day and the bad guys were not nearly as bad as these new monsters. It’s the oldest thing around.

In other news, I’m pretty sure that Morgan would back Ted Bundy, D.B. Cooper and the Zodiac Killer for the Hall of Fame if they spent some time with the Reds in the 70s. Because Morgan talking up Big Red Machine guys is an even stronger force than the generational thing.