Pete Rose/Hall of Fame

Click here for ESPN.com's latest on Selig's stance on Rose

This past Sunday, the great Rickey Henderson — regarded by many as the best lead-off man of all-time — was inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame. And deservedly so.

Yet, a man that had nearly 1,200 more career hits than Henderson and at least 400 more hits than anyone to ever play the game not named Ty Cobb remains not only banished from the game, but excluded from receiving Hall of Fame honors.

Of course I'm talking about baseball's all-time hit king, the infamous Pete Rose.

Rose not being included in the Hall of Fame is a sad story. "Charlie Hustle" only knew one way to play the game of baseball, and that was the way it was meant to be played — full-throttle at 100 mph, giving it your very best day-in and day-out.

Pete Rose may have bet on baseball. Rose may have gambled on games he played and managed in. Hell, he's admitted to these things.

But with the public learning more and more each day of various players who have used performance-enhancing drugs, specifically in the last 20 years or so, what's it even matter?

The current era of baseball has been aptly dubbed the "Steroid Era." And despite all the talk of future Hall of Fame candidates not receiving votes because of their names being linked to PEDs, do you really think there will not be a single player from the era inducted into the Hall? Because there will be plenty.

And whether those athletes were tied specifically to steroids or not, in almost every case there will be a question mark surrounding their name, simply because they played in this era. Is it fair? No. But it's true.

Pete Rose's name has already been scarred for life. It will forever be linked to illegal gambling on baseball, and many will know him simply as "the guy who bet on baseball, then lied about it for years." He will also be known by many as baseball's all-time hit king, and one of the greatest to ever play the game.

Reinstating Rose and putting him in the Hall of Fame will not change those things.

According to the ESPN article, former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent said, "The deterrent for gambling is uppermost and it works.Amidst enormous gambling in this country, if you touch the 'gambling third rail' in baseball, you die. Nobody has ever been reinstated. If you change that, you run the risk of a spate of episodes like Tim Donaghy in the NBA."

Fay misses the mark here. Reinstating Rose will not promote a positive-reinforcement for gambling, or anything similar. Rose's name has already been shamed and Rose himself ostracized, and pretty much all of that is Rose's own fault.

But in 15 years, when the Hall of Fame candidacy of the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Ivan Rodriguez and others is being debated, don't tell me you can put any of those guys or any other players whose names are so much as barely associated with steroids in the Hall of Fame, but not put Pete Rose in.

That's an insult.

Some facts about Pete Rose's playing career: (http://www.peterose.com/records.aspx)

• 17 career All-Star appearances (at five different positions, only player ever to accomplish this feat)
• Most career games played (3,562)
• Most seasons of 200 or more hits (10)
• Most consecutive 100+ hit seasons (23)
• Only player in MLB history to play in more than 500 games at five different positions
• Most career runs in National League history (2,165)

-photo credit Bill Waugh/AP