Jesus H. Christ, the people around here cannot even remember RECENT history.
It is not relevant whether Rose bet on or against his own team, although the worst imaginable thing would have been to bet against his team. He bet on other games, based on his inside knowledge of the players, injuries, tendencies and whatnot. Parenthetically, it does not appear that he was particularly successful at it, he just had a bit of a gambling addiction.
At the time (and probably to this day), all players and other staff were extensively briefed by the Commissioners office during Spring Training that NO SPORTS BETTING would be acceptable, and if caught betting on sports you would get, in effect, the baseball death penalty.
Pete Rose and Bart Giamatti (then-commissioner of baseball) AGREED, IN WRITING, that Rose would be permanently banned from anything associated with MLB. Specifically,
"Peter Edward Rose is hereby declared permanently ineligible in accordance with Major League Rule 21 and placed on the Ineligible List."
Baseball Almanac presents the complete text and detailed information about the Pete Rose / A. Bartlett Giamatti Agreement on banishment.
www.baseball-almanac.com
It doesn't matter what would have happened if he had done the same thing today. It doesn't matter how good he was, or where his stats line up. He committed an unforgivable sin, and was punished according to the rules in effect at the time, and he agreed with the punishment at the time.
Case closed.
