Time for the hypocrisy to end, let Rose back in

I could easily write a book about my disdain for Major League Baseball’s governing body that would make the 17th Century novel, “Artamène ou le Grand Cyrus,” look like a flyer someone wedged inside your screen door.

Since its infancy the MLB hierarchy has been the poster child for hypocrisy, doling out death sentences for a select few while giving much greater violators a simple slap on the wrist and a few minutes with their noses in the corner.

They pull out the guillotine whenever a player is suspected of having bet on a game, but when someone becomes a pin cushion for every performance-enhancing potion that humanity has concocted, they just make them sport a shock collar for a little while and then unhook them from their leash to continue chasing down a home run record.

It amazes me the stances Major League Baseball takes and the messages they convey.

Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds were human science experiments. They illegally blew up their bodies, as well the record books. Then when they were accused of cheating, they lied about it. Then when they were proven to have lied about it, they lied again. Once they were backed into a corner with nowhere to turn, they simply cried, “OK, I did it. But I’m sorry.”

The MLB is like, “No biggie, bros! … just try this collar on for a minute.”

The hypocrisy doesn’t end with that foursome.

Orlando Cepeda was ar- rested for smuggling drugs into Puerto Rico, sentenced to prison for five years and his punishment by baseball was an induction into the hall of fame.

Former Cy Young winner LaMarr Hoyt was arrested on drug charges near the Mexican border in 1986 and was given just a 60-day suspension by the MLB. Former pitcher Ferguson Jenkins was arrested on drug charges as well. He’s currently serving time in Cooperstown.

Hell, current Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton has done enough coke to kill Secretariat and Seattle Slew, but dude is still out there getting chance after chance after chance to stay clean.

Why doesn’t Major League Baseball ban PED users, you know, actual cheaters? Why don’t they ban players who are actual convicted criminals? Probably because they’re too busy nailing anti-gambling placards on the walls of each team’s dugout as if it were still the early 1900s when owners were paying their players like bussers at Texas Roadhouse.

Major League Baseball is still stuck in that time period, but that’s for another day and column.

Obviously the moral of this piece is that I believe it is asinine that a player like Pete Rose is still banned from the game of baseball because he was caught betting on his team. Not against his team ... ON HIS TEAM!

They say, “Rose deserves his punishment. He bet on baseball.” Yeah, so did Ty Cobb. In fact, he didn’t even try to hide it. Where’s the Georgia Peach’s lifetime ban?

They scream, “But Rose lied about his infractions!” So did Rodriguez, McG- wire, Sosa and Bonds.

They claim what Rose did was immoral. It gives baseball a black eye. But snorting rails of coke doesn’t? Being arrested for smuggling and possession of drugs is an honorable act?

They’ll plead, “But drug abuse is an actual disease.” Annnnd so is compulsive gambling, I’ve heard.

While we’re on the topic of gambling, why is it illegal to bet on baseball in the first place? How is it different from trading stocks or investing in a company? I’ve never understood the logic behind praising one and vilifying the other.

A person can choose a company they feel will be successful and essentially bet on them. People like to make themselves feel better by labeling it as “investing,” but it’s gambling. They wager money that the company is going to be a winner.

Don’t believe it’s gambling? Just tell those folks on Wall Street who lost everything they had when the market crashed that it wasn’t gambling. I can’t get my money back when I bet on a team that loses, just like I can’t get my “investment” back when a company I “invested” in goes under.

Call it whatever you want, but Rose was ostracized because he invested in himself and the Cincinnati Reds.

Actually, I feel the game would be much better if more people followed Rose’s example. To be quite honest I’m tired of watching these overpaid athletes play with absolutely nothing on the line.

Do you think if Ryan Howard had to put up some of that $125 million he is stealing from the Philadelphia Phillies that maybe he’d be batting bet- ter than 30 points below his bodyweight?

Nonetheless, Major League Baseball needs to reinstate Rose. He has paid enough of a price and the hypocrisy needs to cease.

Major League Baseball needs to change the message they are conveying, one that says go ahead and cheat the game all you want by shooting up PEDs. Go ahead and snort cocaine at Tony Montanalevels.

Just don’t bet on your team to win ...

That’s a major no-no!