The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York stands for all that the national pastime represents. It is a place where men from every background come together to be immortalized because of their performances on the baseball diamond. This select fraternity has given us timeless moments captured on film or in the memories of fans who pass their stories on to younger generations. Pete Rose should undoubtedly be in the Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame inducts players for their greatness on the field. Men who were above the rest in their time are voted in. Pete Rose is one of those men. He played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies. Late in his career, he passed Ty Cobb to become the all-time leader in base hits. A successful major leaguer will collect about 2,000 hits in a career; Rose more than doubled that. Without a doubt, his play on the diamond qualifies him to be a Hall of Famer.

But Pete Rose was found guilty of betting on the game. This shocked the baseball world, but even more shocking was his sentence: Rose was banned from baseball for life. This outrageous punishment also meant that he could not be inducted into the Hall.

Rose was devastated. How could a player's personal life influence whether or not he joins a club whose requirements are greatness on the baseball field? If factors other than performance matter, then why isn't a mediocre player who is a great man off the field allowed into the Hall of Fame? Pete Rose fell prey to a power-hungry commissioner who wanted his name to go down in the record books as the man who ruined "Charlie Hustle."

Hopefully, more people will realize Rose's glittering career and want his plaque to hang in Cooperstown. Pete Rose loved the game with everything he had, only to have it taken from him forever. l