#pete-rose

#pete-rose

Major League Baseball began investigating Pete Rose in 1988, the year before it launched the full-blown, publicly announced probe that resulted in his banishment, according to newly released FBI documents. MLB, however, suspended its investigation at the request of federal law enforcement officials who were investigating Rose's finances at the time. The documents show that MLB suspected in 1988, months before the public became aware of any investigation, that Rose was betting on baseball and was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released 130 pages of documents relating to Pete Rose, Major League Baseball's all-time hits leader who was subsequently banned from the game and the Baseball Hall of Fame until earlier this year for betting on baseball. The documents focus on Rose's deceased bookie, Ronald Peters, and a mid-1980s investigation into narcotics and bookmaking operations that Peters ran.

"In the Matter of: Peter Edward Rose, Manager, Cincinnati Reds Baseball Club," attorney John N. Dowd summarized the gravity of the findings. "Betting exposes the game to the influence of forces who seek to control the game to their own ends. Betting on one's own team gives rise to the ultimate conflict of interest."

It was good to see Kirk back in the lineup after missing a game with the effects of taking a bat to the head.