Pete Rose and the great steroids debate

 Cincinnati baseball legend Pete Rose has an interesting talent.

He rarely says anything that will surprise you, and yet you tend to listen to what he says and debate it later.

Does that make any sense?

Take a recent conversation he had on the Dan Patrick Show. Rose said he would support Alex Rodriguez making the Hall of Fame. You see, Pete supports giving a guy a second chance. I know, can't believe he said that.

However, he said those who use steroids are committing a far graver crime than he ever did when he bet on Major League Baseball games while managing the Reds. Wow, I know.

Either way, he brings up an interesting debate. Is steroids in baseball worse than gambling in baseball?

Well, let's see.

Gambling nearly destroyed baseball after the Black Sox scandal in 1919. The credibility of the sport nearly became that of pro wrestling.

Since then, Major League Baseball commissioners have been vigilant in stamping out gambling and gambling ties in any fashion. They've been right to do so.

The fact is, once gambling agents and bookies are let in the door the house would crumble.

Meanwhile, you have steroids. The use of steroids and HGH is cheating pure and simple. This "steroids era" baseball is battling is ugly because all players, fairly or not, have fallen under suspicion. And the statistics, which baseball adores, have become swollen and fake.

I hate puns but steroids is a juiced up form of cheating. And baseball knows something about cheating.

Players have corked bats, pitchers have used Vaseline, runners steal signs and they all once gorged themselves on amphetamines to endure long seasons.

Yes, cheating is wrong. We all learned this in kindergarten.

But isn't there a line between trying to gain a competitive edge in order to win and trying to fix the outcome completely?

I would say, yes. And at least half of baseball fans agree with me.

The latest opinion polls indicate about 50 percent of the fans care about steroids in baseball. And attendance numbers don't seem to be hurting these days.

Now, how many fans would come out to the ballpark if they thought games were fixed?

Could baseball weather that storm?

Players like Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada and Gary Sheffield have weathered the steroid storm all right. Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez probably will also.

Yes, they'll have trouble come Hall of Fame voting time, but the sport will march on because nobody doubts that the players are still trying to win.

Meanwhile, if gambling ever became as rampant as steroid use was it would kill the game.

That's why one guy, Pete Rose, was punished so severely.

And it hasn't been an easy pill for many to swallow. But if it helps just remember, Pete still has plenty of talk shows he can appear on.