One of Pete Rose’s old lackeys -- Tommy Gioiosa -- told the world many years ago that Rose corked his bats. Based on everything we knew about the guy at the time: that he was a risk-taker, a pathological competitor and a guy who viewed rules as something less than mild suggestions, it wasn’t hard to believe him.
But now there’s proof of it, in the form of one of Charlie Hustle’s bats from his 1985 chase of Ty Cobb, cork and all. It comes along with a story of the bat’s history over at Deadspin today that is some good readin’.
So: even if we get Rose un-banned, is everyone still comfortable with him making the Hall of Fame? Or does the old unlevel playing field argument apply only to steroids?
UPDATE: Here’s a lot more on Pete Rose and the corked bat, including my response to your comments about how corked bats aren’t supposed to help anybody.