House Resolution 118 - Introduced HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 118 BY BACON , KAUFMANN , HEIN , JACOBSEN , MITCHELL , WILLS , WHEELER , SORENSEN , NORDMAN , BRINK , BOSSMAN , BEST , OLSON , KLEIN , THOMPSON , McCONKEY , SEXTON , BRADLEY , McCLINTOCK , MOORE , BAXTER , BOUSSELOT , COHOON , DUNWELL , WILLIAMS , SMITH , BROWN-POWERS , KRESSIG , and JACOBY A Resolution urging Major League Baseball and the 1 National Baseball Hall of Fame to reconsider each 2 entity’s decision to ban Pete Rose. 3 WHEREAS, Pete Rose was born in 1941 in Cincinnati, 4 Ohio; and 5 WHEREAS, Mr. Rose played parts of 24 seasons in 6 Major League Baseball, including 19 seasons with his 7 hometown team, the Cincinnati Reds; and 8 WHEREAS, Mr. Rose was selected to the National 9 League All-Star team 17 times and for five different 10 positions, was on three teams that won the World 11 Series, won the National League Rookie of the Year 12 award in 1963, won the National League Most Valuable 13 Player award in 1973, and was a top-10 finalist for the 14 National League Most Valuable Player award nine other 15 times; and 16 WHEREAS, Mr. Rose led Major League Baseball in games 17 played four times, plate appearances six times, at-bats 18 three times, runs scored three times, hits seven times, 19 doubles four times, and batting average two times, 20 and led the National League in on-base percentage two 21 times; and 22 WHEREAS, Mr. Rose finished his career with a 23 -1- LSB 6245YH (3) 89 js/rn 1/ 3

H.R. 118 Major League record 3,562 games played, 15,890 plate 1 appearances, 14,053 at-bats, and 4,256 hits, which 2 include a Major League record 3,215 singles; and 3 WHEREAS, Mr. Rose was given the nickname “Charlie 4 Hustle” due to his energetic style that included 5 sprinting to first base even after a plate appearance 6 ended as a walk; and 7 WHEREAS, a 1989 investigation found that Mr. Rose 8 bet on baseball games that he was involved in, but did 9 not provide any evidence that Mr. Rose bet against his 10 team; and 11 WHEREAS, in exchange for Major League Baseball 12 declining to make a formal finding, Mr. Rose agreed to 13 be permanently placed on the league’s ineligible list 14 and his subsequent requests for reinstatement have not 15 been approved; and 16 WHEREAS, in 1994, the National Baseball Hall of Fame 17 voted to exclude individuals on Major League Baseball’s 18 ineligible list from induction into the National 19 Baseball Hall of Fame; and 20 WHEREAS, despite subsequently amending its rules 21 so that Pete Rose was eligible for consideration for 22 induction into the Major League Hall of Fame by the 23 Veterans Committee, Mr. Rose has not been considered 24 for induction; and 25 WHEREAS, in 2004, Mr. Rose admitted to betting on 26 baseball games, including games he was involved in, but 27 reaffirmed that he never bet against his team; and 28 WHEREAS, American culture, including the state of 29 Iowa, has grown more accepting of sports betting; and 30 -2- LSB 6245YH (3) 89 js/rn 2/ 3

H.R. 118 WHEREAS, Mr. Rose was one of the greatest baseball 1 players of all time but has been punished for 2 portraying confidence in himself and his teammates; NOW 3 THEREFORE, 4 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That 5 the House of Representatives recognizes the importance 6 of Mr. Pete Rose and his accomplishments to the history 7 of baseball and American sports and urges Major League 8 Baseball and the National Baseball Hall of Fame to 9 reconsider their decision to prohibit his association 10 with each entity. 11 -3- LSB 6245YH (3) 89 js/rn 3/ 3