Baseball stacks the deck in Pete's favor

Bud Selig's latest solution to baseball's Pete Rose problem sounds like something he cooked up while watching the season finale of "Survivor."

Selig plans to invite the 58 living members of the Hall of Fame to a meeting next month in Los Angeles. There, the commissioner intends to find out how they'd feel about Rose joining their ranks.

For sheer drama, it could rival that moment at the end of the TV series when the tribal council is convened -- except no one will carry torches and these guys will be polled about letting Pete onto the island, not kicking him off.

Oh, one other important difference: It's probably a done deal.

Whatever side Selig was on the day Rose was banished from baseball 13 years ago, Bud almost certainly wants Pete in the hall now. The commissioner can't say so, not for the record, anyway, and he knows it can't happen overnight.

All Selig can do is reinstate Rose and make him eligible for the hall; the rest is up to the baseball writers who cast ballots. But with this latest lobbying effort, Selig is hedging his bets.

On Sunday, the commissioner's point man in the Rose talks wouldn't even confirm a meeting with hall members was in the works. But Bob Dupuy did say, "The commissioner is interested in hearing ... the myriad issues."

Interested?

Selig is so desperate to serve baseball he'd auction off one of his kidneys during a seventh-inning stretch if he was convinced it would do the game lasting good.

Myriad issues?

Selig so loves consensus that he'd poll convicted felons and Gamblers Anonymous -- two other groups Rose carries credentials for -- if he thought their support would make his decision seem any more credible.

But the commissioner already has all the cover he needs. Every fan poll conducted the last 10 years poll backs Rose by a 3-to-1 margin. Selig has also been on hand to hear the thunderous ovations and see the ballyard light up the two times he allowed Rose to set foot on the field during sanctioned events.

So, if Selig is only interested in making the popular decision, his research is already done. But if leadership means trying to make the right decision, then his next step is to make Rose come clean about his gambling -- and that's before Selig announces his decision. There's plenty of time afterward to meet with the Hall of Fame crowd.

When Rose was banned in August 1989, he signed a document acknowledging then-commissioner Bart Giamatti had a "factual basis" for imposing the lifetime sentence. Rose has threatened several times since to hand over evidence that baseball's lawyers "blackmailed" witnesses, and produce experts of his own to shred the testimony of the experts who found his handwriting and fingerprints on betting slips.

Now would be the perfect time for Selig to call Rose's hand -- instead of trying to help stack the deck. Everybody can see through that trick.

Reached at his suburban Tampa home Sunday night, Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts said he wouldn't fly across the country to meet with Selig. He said he didn't see any point debating Rose's worthiness for the hall until the commissioner determined his eligibility.

"Until he's off the banned list," Roberts said, "there's no point talking about it."

Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, who has been an outspoken critic of Rose, said over the weekend he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to make his sentiments known. But Roberts, who could be every bit as tough as Feller on a pitching mound, thinks there will be time enough for that.

First, he wanted a full accounting from Rose. That, Roberts argued, is the only way the hit king's candidacy will get a fair hearing from both the baseball public and the hall's voters.

"Because of the reaction of the fans, the commissioner had to say, 'Look, I'll review the situation.' But just because Pete is eligible doesn't mean he gets in. I don't think it's as cut-and-dried the way a lot of others do.

"Most people don't even remember what he was accused of. I think the Hall of Fame voters do, and so if Pete's a guy who comes forth and says, 'Hey, look, I did wrong, I put baseball in a bad spot,' that's one thing.

"But look at the other side: Whatever he admits to so he gets off the list might make some people say, 'Whoa, we believed him about being innocent and now this."'

Roberts said he'll withhold judgment until he hears Rose for himself. He can't imagine anybody, Selig included, doing otherwise.

"We all know Pete's playing credentials certainly qualified him. But first," he said, "we'll have to see about the other part."

Jim Litke is a sports columnist for The Associated Press.