Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

Smelling Like a Rose Column for the week of April 18-24, 2004

archives |

printer-friendly version

Looking for some reading material on my last trip I was tempted to read Pete Rose’s book, My Prison Without Bars. Not that I’m a tremendous baseball fan but people who can look you in the face and lie consistently fascinate me. I had other admitted lying authors to choose from like Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass or there was Al Franken’s Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them but for some reason I was fixated on Rose.

To say that Pete Rose was an outstanding baseball player would be an understatement. Nicknamed “Charlie Hustle” because of his love of the game and never give up attitude, he worked his way through the ranks to have a career spanning over 25 years from the early 60’s to late 80’s. He has the all time record in most hits, most games played, most at bats, most singles, and the list goes on and on. His awards: The Gold Glove, Most Valuable Player. Lou Gehrig Memorial, TSN Player of the Decade, World Series Most Valuable Player, Silver Slugger, Rookie of the Year, and Sportsman of the Year. He then went on to manage the Cincinnati Reds. Then why isn’t he in baseball’s Hall of Fame? Well, he was accused of committing baseball’s unpardonable sin, betting on the game. That’s a huge no-no in baseball. Major League Baseball Rule # 21 states paraphrased: Thou shalt not bet on the baseball game.

When it was rumored that Rose had massive gambling debts and was betting on his team, an investigation was launched. Led by Special Counsel to the Commissioner of Baseball, John M. Dowd, it produced the infamous Dowd Report. After much denial, Rose finally agreed to lifetime suspension if no results were officially announced. That was almost 15 years ago. Now, after almost 15 years of saying “I didn’t do it,” Pete Rose finally admits he did bet on baseball. Unfortunately, it comes across like the most unapologetic apology ever given, like one last-ditch effort to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame. So far it’s not working.

All this makes for a fascinating story and I almost bought My Prison Without Bars until I read the front cover flap. Evidently Pete Rose suffers from gambling addiction. That was no big surprise! Then it goes on to read that he “suffers from oppositional defiant disorder.” This works just a little too hard for the sympathy vote in my opinion. What exactly is “oppositional defiant disorder?”

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is psychiatric disorder characterized by an “ongoing pattern of uncooperative, defiant, and hostile behavior toward authority figures.” It is most commonly found in children. Symptoms can be “frequent temper tantrums, excessive arguing with adults, active defiance and refusal to comply with adult requests and rules, deliberate attempts to annoy or upset people, blaming others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior, easily annoyed by others, frequent anger and resentment, mean and hateful talking when upset, and seeking revenge.” Now I ask you? Who does Pete Rose’s PR? Basically trying to make us feel sorry for him because he has ODD is like saying he’s a big baby that never grew up.

There’s a scripture that says, “When I was a child, I spokes as a child.” (1 Corinthians 13:11) When I grew up I spoke as a man. Pete may be trying to make excuses for not growing up. At what age is a person supposed to look around and say, “Perhaps acting like a big baby is not the best course of action for a grown man.”

Pete Rose says, “When they take your freedom — there is nothing scarier in the whole world.” Maybe that’s part of the problem. They didn’t take his freedom. He forfeited it. But in his state of denial he won’t admit that either. “Yes,” he finally admits he bet on baseball but everyone else is the bad guy and he’s the helpless victim. Well, what can you expect from someone with ODD? All I can say is this Rose doesn’t smell so good.

Be sure to visit this page every week to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.