There are few things in life where you get a second chance. Pete Rose still wishes he had one.
The baseball legend says he wishes he would have chosen a different vice during his playing days so that he could have another opportunity at redemption. Rose joined 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh to talk about his lifetime ban from baseball in light of MLB’s recent investigation into its players using performance-enhancing drugs. There have been constant talks of handing down a lifetime ban to players who test positive for PEDs.
“You have to understand, I don’t call these guys to do shows, they call me,” Rose said. “And of course with all this steroid talk and the 12 guys being suspended and [Alex Rodriguez] appealing, they want my input because I’m suspended for life. Hey, everything is a different case. I made mistakes.
“However, if I am given a second chance, I won’t need a third chance. 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,” Rose said.
Rose has even struck up a friendship with ol’ A-Rod in the last year, and it seems the two stay in touch quite a bit.
“The last time I texted Alex is when [Yankees general manager] Brian Cashman told him to keep his bleeping mouth shut and play baseball. I met Alex more than a year ago. He was wrong, there’s no question about it. He talks about old timers in baseball. He talks about [Roberto] Clemente and [Hank] Aaron. He loves this history of the game. I think he’d be the first one to tell you he screwed up. And if he doesn’t, he’s not telling you the truth.
Rose even went as far as to offer his advice to those facing a similar dilemma as Rodriguez.
“My advice to anybody listening is don’t do like I did, don’t do like Alex did or do what [Ryan] Braun did. Don’t do like any of those guys did. Don’t lie if you are confronted about something that you made a mistake. The faster you come clean the better off you are going to be,” Rose said.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
