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Pete Rose belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but he is such a jerk.

At least that is the way Rose comes across every single time he opens his mouth. Maybe he is a really nice guy who is just misunderstood.

If that is the case, then the man could use an interpreter.

He brought up having an interpreter recently when weighing in on the potentially really big controversy involving Los Angeles Dodgers mercenary Shohei Ohtani.

The Japanese superstar found himself embroiled in controversy when it was claimed that his translator stole $4.5 million from him to pay illegal gambling debts. The story immediately raised eyebrows because it just doesn’t add up.

Speculation has run rampant that Ohtani at least knew more than he was saying. It just doesn’t make sense that his interpreter could wire $4.5 million out of Ohtani ’s bank account to an illegal gambling operation without the player knowing more.

That, however, doesn’t mean that Ohtani was betting on anything, let alone betting on baseball. Rose, though, fired away at Ohtani as if he was tried and convicted.

You would think a guy who went through the public ringer — and the legal one — would be more in favor of due process.

“Well, back in the ’70s and ’80s, I wish I’d have had an interpreter,” baseball’s banned hit king said. “I’d be scot-free.”

Sure, that was a funny comment from a guy who has been a free man since being released from prison for tax evasion in 1991. It was also a jerk comment.

Time after time, Rose has had chances to take the high road, but instead opted the gutter of the low road.

What else can we expect from a guy who was banned from the game for betting on baseball and then lying about it for years?

It is too bad that Rose didn’t have an interpreter when he played and managed. It is too bad he doesn’t have an interpreter now. He really could have used an interpreter with a jerk filter.

Once the potentially explosive Ohtani news broke, you have heard people say that Rose should be put in the Hall of Fame if Ohtani is allowed to keep playing.

While it is hard to argue with that point, Ohtani’s scandal isn’t the reason Rose should be put into the Hall of Fame. It does, however, illustrate why the “Hit King” should be enshrined in Cooperstown and have his sentence commuted for his gambling sins.

Rose was given a lifetime ban from Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in 1989, shortly before Giamatti’s death.

It wasn’t until 2004 that Rose admitted to betting on baseball — including on the team he was managing at the time. Of course, he didn’t come clean out of the goodness of his heart or because his transgressions weighed on his conscience. He did so in a book to make the autograph-selling king a bunch of money.

In 1989, baseball held the moral high ground when it came to gambling. Giamatti felt he had to banish Rose, who knew full well that gambling was totally taboo in baseball, to protect the sanctity of the game.

Today, baseball has no moral high ground when it comes to gambling. No professional sport does.

No, Major League Baseball hopped right in bed with the gambling industry, as did most of the media outlets covering the sport. If you listen to ESPN Radio for more than 10 minutes, you will know what I’m talking about.

Not only is the Mothership pushing its own gambling app, the personalities talk about the lines and prop bets as much or more as they talk about the action.

What is supposed to be sports radio sounds more like an infomercial for the betting industry.

I came across a meme on Facebook after the Ohtani news started to pick up steam that perfectly sums it up. Here’s what it read:

“Welcome back to SportsCenter presented by ESPN Bet. For more on the Ohtani situation, we go to our FanDuel MLB insider Jeff Passan at our DraftKings Studio in Los Angeles brought to you by Caesar’s Sportsbook. Jeff, how could something like this happen?”

Sure, that is an exaggeration. But only a slight one.

ESPN pushes gambling down the throats of sports fans, then ESPN is the watchdog when it comes to players placing bets?

Fans cannot get away from gambling. If they can somehow avoid it on television or radio, they cannot avoid it at the games. Many teams even have sports books right in the stadiums.

That is why we have such an outbreak in gambling addictions among college students. That is why we see more and more dads losing their kids’ college funds betting on games.

The sped-up disclaimer telling fans where to call when they finally realize that they have a gambling problem at the end of the many advertisements does not let the industry off the hook.

Professional sports have gone well beyond the slippery slope to gambling. Instead, they are using a catapult to launch their fans into the depths of addiction.

Nobody in the history of baseball has more hits than Rose, who poked 4,256 base knocks in his illustrious career that spanned 24 seasons from 1963 through 1986. He was a 17-time All-Star who played on three World Series-winning teams.

Rose, though, was about so much more than statistics. He played every game like his life depended on it — just ask Ray Fosse. Rose almost killed the Cleveland catcher during the 1970 All-Star game.

He earned the nickname “Charlie Hustle” early in his career. He played the game the way fans want all their team’s players to play.

Yet, Rose is still being kept out of the Hall of Fame by a league that has done a million times more damage with gambling than any player could possibly ever do.

That is why some are once again saying Rose should get another shot at the Hall of Fame.

A similar argument is being made for Reggie Bush to get his Heisman Trophy back. Bush won the 2005 Heisman as a star for the University of Southern California.

In 2010, the NCAA, which does not take a back seat in hypocrisy to Major League Baseball, stripped Bush of his Heisman because he accepted impermissible benefits that included cash, travel expenses and a rent-free home.

Today, in the era of name image likeness, we see college athletes making money off their name and talent, as they should. The NCAA and colleges have been making millions off the hard work of players for years. 

USC Heisman-winning quarterback Caleb Williams, a future 10-time Super Bowl winning quarterback for the Chicago Bears, made like $10 million during his college days.

So, it hardly seems fair that Bush lost his trophy over a fraction of that money.

Likewise, it hardly seems fair that one of the greatest players in the history of the sport is locked out of the Hall of Fame for engaging in an activity the sport now encourages its fans to do. 

Of course, Bush hasn’t hurt his case as much as Rose has by putting his foot in his mouth. But if obstructing justice in a double murder case (at least) didn’t keep Ray Lewis out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, foot-in-mouth disease shouldn’t keep Rose out of the baseball shrine.

Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame.

But if they do put him in the Hall when he is still alive, they better make sure he has an interpreter as he delivers his speech.

Make sure that interpreter has a jerk filter.

— Bill Foley, who could probably also use a jerk filter, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.