I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the biggest baseball fan. As far as I’m concerned, the seventh-inning stretch can begin in the first inning and last through the ninth. Despite its sleep-inducing effects, however, I believe every sports fan has the right to enjoy America’s favorite pastime. Pete Rose, regardless of a less-than-perfect past, is as much a part of baseball as peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

Rose, who was permanently banned from Major League Baseball in 1989 following a gambling investigation, is seeking reinstatement after several meetings with MLB commissioner Bud Selig. Selig has made it clear that if Rose comes forth with a confession, reinstatement is bound to follow. Should baseball lift the lifetime ban, Rose would regain eligibility for Hall of Fame induction.

It’s no secret gambling is a cardinal sin in the world of professional baseball. To take away from the league’s career-hits leader his opportunity to be among the sport’s best is unfair to Rose and his fans.

For Selig to deny Rose reinstatement is an insult to Rose’s outstanding career and an injustice to the millions of fans who see him as baseball’s hero. Personal and moral judgments aside, there certainly is no statistical barrier keeping Rose from the Hall of Fame. In fact, out of 21 candidates on the 2002 Hall of Fame ballot, all said if Rose were eligible, he would get their vote. The experts agree — Rose is a candidate worthy of respect.

I think he should be rewarded for his talent on the field, not condemned for his past mistakes.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe gambling is an ugly habit and a dangerous addiction. It can destroy lives in more ways than one and, as was the case with Rose, tarnish one’s personal and professional reputation.

Rose allegedly bet on, even against, his own team in the 1980s. He is stubborn and arrogant, but he is a great athlete. To this day, he won’t admit to the habit that led to his destruction, let alone express remorse for his behavior. If you want to get personal, though, there are far worse out there than Pete Rose.

He isn’t, after all, the first bat-swinging bad boy to stir things up in MLB history. Ty Cobb, the league’s hits leader until Rose smashed the record in 1985, was a blatant racist and constant instigator of violence. His fierce, fearsome behavior both on and off the field would have been deemed unacceptable by anyone. Yet his memory remains honored in the Hall of Fame.

Rose wants back into professional baseball to see his fans happy and to breathe new life into a game that, to him, has been dead since 1989.

League officials, in collaboration with Selig, are intent on abiding by the rules and dwelling on the past. Rules, like records, are made to be broken.

If there is one man who has earned an exception to the rule, it’s Pete Rose. If a lethargic baseball fan like me can forgive him for his misdeeds, baseball can too. Baseball is a spectator sport and its fans deserve to see Rose enshrined in Cooperstown, NY.

Amanda Manser is a senior in journalism. She can be reached at [email protected].