The Stinking Rose

Pete Rose, though barred from baseball for over 12 years, will again make an appearance at a baseball game. His hit record made the top ten moments in baseball history-as voted by you, the fans-, which will be celebrated as part of game 4 tonight with a free ride for all top-10 vote-getters on the Taco Bell Flotilla.

The only other time that Rose was allowed in a major-league stadium was to participate in the All-Century Team festivities a couple of years ago. The Cincinnati Reds' request to allow Rose to partake in the events surrounding the final game at Riverfront Stadium last month was vetoed by the commissioner's office. Rose was also left off the guest list for Bud Selig's surprise birthday party at Scores earlier this year-a topless Carl Pohlad popped out of cake; it was a grand old time.

Basically, when it serves MLB's purposes Rose is allowed to appear but only at their behest. Otherwise, he is part of the great unwashed. I wouldn't mind their stance as long as they were honest about it. They should just say that Rose's appearance would help sell the video that is tied into this promotion when it appears in stores later this month. "I don't mind a parasite. I object to a cut-rate one." (Rick Blaine in Casablanca).

By the way, the Stinking Rose is the name of my favorite restaurant in San Francisco. The name refers to garlic, which is what almost all their food contains in abundance. I thought it appropriate given the Pete Rose tie-in as well as Joe Buck's many references to smelling garlic fries (which may actually be a euphemism for something that he cannot say directly on TV).