Pete Rose has been erased from baseball history thanks to his lifetime ban for gambling on the game, and now the all-time hit leader is being erased from baseball cards as well.
Rose hasn’t had his own card since he was banned in 1989. Baseball cards are officially licensed MLB products, and as a “permanently ineligible player” Rose is forbidden from having his own card. An astute baseball card fan, Rob Harris of Chicagoside, noticed that Topps is taking the ban a step further.
When the back of the cards for certain players list all time hitting lists, Rose’s name is some how absent. The back of the Topps card contains a list called “Career Chase,” showing just how far that player is from reaching the all-time greats. The cards list the record-holders by name… until it comes to Pete Rose .
Chicagoside looked at the card of A.J. Pierzynski, noting that instead of saying “Pete Rose’s record,” the all-time batting crown is simply called “all-time record of 4,256” hits. The story has since been picked up nationwide, including the home of the Reds, the Cincinnati Enquirer .
Harris took issue with the fact that Pete Rose was erased, while player linked to performance-enhancing drugs were kept intact. He wrote:
“The decision to ignore Rose is particularly questionable given the ongoing furor over performance enhancing drugs. Barry Bonds and other suspected steroid cheats have so far been denied entry to the Hall of Fame. Yet Topps has chosen to take the bloom only off of Rose. Why? Do they deem his crimes more serious? Is their standard that permanently ineligible players should be denied recognition? They’re not saying.”
Do you think it’s fair that Pete Rose is erased by Topps while PED users continue to have their records stand.