'One of the greatest injustices': Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman defends Pete Rose to the end

John Katsilometes, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Sep 30, 2024

Published in Baseball

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LAS VEGAS — Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, a man who once said he would bet on two cockroaches racing across a kitchen floor, detested Pete Rose’ lifetime ban from Major League Baseball.

“Major League Baseball disgraced itself, the way they treated Pete Rose,” Goodman said Monday afternoon after learning Rose had died at age 83. “There is nothing wrong with someone betting on themselves. That’s the American way. If you believe in yourself, you bet that you’re going to win.”

Rose admitted in his 2004 autobiography that he bet on baseball, including Reds games, though he said he never bet against his own team. Rose retired after the 1986 season with a major league-record 4,256 hits, but his lifetime ban prevented him from being on the ballot to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

“I think it’s one of the greatest injustices that Major League Baseball, and maybe all major league sports, ever suffered,” Goodman said. “They just jumped on this poor guy.”

In 2016, Goodman and Rose participated in a promotional video campaign for sport-wagering company William Hill. The two co-starred in a pair of spots.

At the end of the second ad, Goodman asks Rose, “So Pete, who do you like tonight?”

Rose’s reply: “Just don’t bet on Cincinnati.”

Goodman loved the “Hustle,” in Charlie Hustle

“He was one of the greatest ball players of all time,” Goodman said, referring to Rose’s on-field tenacity. “I think he was a role model for every kid who wants to win, and that’s why he was nicknamed Charlie Hustle. I wish more kids would hustle these days.”