Last week marked the 25th anniversary of Pete Rose's lifetime ban from MLB, but ESPN's Keith Olbermann speculated the league might be willing to bend from its stance and allow Rose to appear at next summer's All-Star Game at Great American Ball Park if a corporate entity is willing to pay the bill. Olbermann rhetorically asked, "What is going to happen if an advertiser says to baseball's marketing division, 'Hey, you know what would be great in Cincinnati? A Pete Rose event, maybe a Pete Rose and Ray Fosse event. Here's $10 million. Give Pete whatever you think is fair.' Do you think baseball is going to say, 'Oh no, he's on the permanently ineligible list, here's your money back?'" Olbermann noted Rose was part of the All-Century Team, which was sponsored by MasterCard and announced during the '99 World Series. He said, "Rose was trotted out as if it never had ever happened because the credit card company wanted the whole All-Century Team there, even him." He was "even brought out to be interviewed on NBC" prior to the start of Game 2 of the series. That came just three months after 24 players on the ballot for the All-Century Team "had been brought to Fenway Park to stand around the infield before the All-Star Game," and Rose was not among them. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig had stated that as part of Rose's ban, attendance "at any function like that was forbidden, unless Major League Baseball could make money off it evidently." Olbermann: "The hypocrisy about Pete Rose -- baseball's hypocrisy, Bud Selig's hypocrisy -- is subtle, but still shameful. Pete Rose's lifetime ban can be and has been turned on and off like a light switch. Just remember to bring enough cash" ("Pete Rose: 25 Years In Exile," ESPN, 8/25).
