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The Jasper myth
As the trial of the last defendant in the dragging death of James Byrd gets under way, these Texas residents are kidding themselves if they think they've conquered racism.
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[10/25/99]

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[10/25/99]

Goodnight, Irene
Blacks have voted overwhelmingly Democratic for years, but now they seem to be rethinking their political allegiances.
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[10/23/99]

A battle of the generals
With bragging rights for team of the decade at stake, Yankees manager Joe Torre and Braves skipper Bobby Cox prepare for a strategic World Series duel.
By Steve Kettmann
[10/23/99]

Now for some real money
With her campaign over, Elizabeth Dole is free to pursue a more lucrative calling: Self-promotion.
By Monte Paulsen
[10/22/99]

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Rose is still banned from baseball for gambling, and he's still a moral riddle, but the man put way too much into the game for baseball to keep him from resuming his rightful place sooner or later. Commissioner Bud Selig may dislike Rose. His skin may crawl at the thought of Rose and his uncouth, unapologetic style. But Selig just cannot keep Rose out of baseball forever. Second chances are too much a way of life in this country.

"I mean, Charles Manson gets a hearing every year, doesn't he?" Rose asked Sunday in a pre-game session with reporters, and before the laughter at that line died down, he turned to his son, Tyler, seated to his right and added: "This kid thinks his dad's a monster." He looked away from his son and down, blinking back tears, and just about everyone in the Turner Field interview room with Rose had to feel the emotion. I sure did, and I was never much of a Rose fan. This being Rose, there was no thought that the tears and the words about his son were mere performance. If Rose could say things just to say them, he'd have talked his way out of this years ago.

There was always a dumb man's stubborn persistence to his brilliance as a player, an ornery urge to just keep barreling ahead no matter what. (He also cracked: "I might arm-wrestle [Selig] when I see him.") This quality made Rose baseball's all-time hits leader, with 4,256, and made him a hit with just the sort of modest, unpretentious fans baseball most needs to think about these days, catering as it does, in this era of charter seats and $7 beers, to the upscale crowd. Fans relate to Rose, whether they love him or hate him, and anyone who doubted that just had to take in the pre-game ceremony Sunday night.

To Selig's credit, Major League Baseball did not interfere with the fans' desire to vote Rose onto the team of the century. The commissioner and others may be able to keep Rose out of the Hall of Fame for now, but they abided by his selection as one of the century's premier outfielders.

And when the team was announced, the capacity crowd had plenty to cheer, including such unforgettable sights as Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr. working together to help Ted Williams into his seat out on the ad hoc stage set up over second base. But these fans obviously had Rose on their minds, and they were primed to make a statement about his place in the game. Almost before P.A. announcer Vin Scully had gotten the words "Charlie Hustle" out of his mouth, the Atlanta fans were whooping and hollering. They gave Rose an ovation that lasted a full 55 seconds, longer even than what hometown hero Hank Aaron received.

"I thought it was great, because Pete has been away from the game so long; I think the fans that are true fans miss him," said NBC broadcaster Joe Morgan, Rose's former Cincinnati Reds teammate.

A Major League Baseball spokesman said Selig would have no comment on Rose's appeal for a second chance, and there's not likely to be much change in the near future on the Rose matter. But time and public opinion are both on Rose's side. Selig will not be commissioner forever. Baseball will have to find a way to let Rose back into the game, even if he stubbornly refuses to offer the sort of clear-cut apology that baseball claims it wants from him. He tried on Sunday, though in his own barrel-here/barrel-there way.

"I would do anything in my power to change what has happened to me in the last 10 years," Rose said. "I would. But I can't change what has happened. You know how I feel. You know I'm sorry. I mean, I guess maybe when I got the hit to break Ty Cobb's record, I shouldn't have cried at first base because no one thinks I'm sorry unless I cry. I got feelings like everybody else has feelings, obviously. If anybody in this group doesn't think I'm sorry for what happened ... I must tell you this: that I'm sitting here looking at a lot of friends out there, and I can't think of anybody I'm looking at that I hurt."

Then, once again, he indicated his son Tyler, adding: "Unless I turn this way."

Next page | Rose won't need a third chance