Day: January 8, 2004

Forgive? Forget it!

/ Kevin B. O'Reilly

So says Steve Chapman in a very nice column today about public figures whoss less than credible apologies shouldn’t earn our forgiveness.

Aside from Pete Rose, obviously, the list includes Stephen Glass, Oliver North, G. Gordon Liddy, Dan Rostenkowski and Arnold Schwarznegger.

Chapman’s model for penance “is the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, who, after being excommunicated for defying the pope, stood outside the papal castle for three days, barefoot in the snow, before he was granted clemency.”

He concludes: “Rose, Glass and the others may have won mercy from the Almighty. If they want it from the rest of us, though, I’d say: Take off your shoes and go stand in the snow. When your 72 hours is up, we’ll forgive you. Maybe.”

Survey says!

/ Kevin B. O'Reilly

A group of Tribune Co. newspapers did an interesting survey of eligible Hall of Fame voters and found that of the 159 they reached (there are 506 total), only 72 — or 45 percent –would vote to induct Pete Rose into Cooperstown’s top tourist attraction.

Preliminary as this finding is, it gives further weight to the argument that major-league baseball should allow Rose’s name on the ballot. If he gets rejected by the voters fair and square, maybe he’ll finally quit his whining. Unlikely, I know, but we can hope.

Then it would be on to the Veterans’ Committee, now made up of the living Hall of Famers, a group I’d suspect would be even less forgiving of Rose’s sins against the game and against common decency.

Who says there’s anything wrong with a little democracy in America?