Ratchethead Ledbottom: 'Pete Rose was ahead of his time'

By Rory Ryan
The Highland County Press

Since it's been a few years since his most-recent call, I had assumed that Ratchethead Ledbottom had passed away and we simply did not receive his obituary. Alas, the old curmudgeon remains upright, and his remains will be a future embalming endeavor (if necessary).

Thus, when my home phone rang this week, I was somewhat obligated to oblige old Ratchethead's song-and-dance and Q-and-A session.

Fortunately, we now have a speaker phone, and I could walk about the basement cave from fridge to fire and try to relax throughout the interrogation.

It went somewhat like this. Try to keep up.

"What in the name of Peter Edward Rose is going on with these NBA folks gambling and getting in bed with the mob families?" Ratch asked.

Before I could respond, he quickly added, "At least Pete Rose bet on the Reds when he thought they'd win. When he didn't bet on the Reds, his bookie probably loaded up on the Dodgers or Giants or whatever West Coast team the Reds were playing."

OK. So far, dozens of people – including Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups – were arrested this week in a wide-ranging sports wagering and underground poker fraud case. Is that really a surprise? Didn't thinking people expect it, sooner or later? 

Once professional sports got in bed with gambling entities, it was only a matter of time until players, coaches, officials or someone associated with the game, might just try to rig the system.

"Hold on," Ratch interrupted. "What about that 1919 World Series scandal that cost Shoeless Joe Jackson his career and the Hall of Fame? What about that? Was that right or wrong?"

First off, Ratchethead, in the 1919 World Series, Shoeless Joe Jackson batted .375 with 12 hits (a World Series record at the time), with three doubles, one home run, six RBIs, and five runs scored. His performance included no defensive errors and a game-changing play where he threw a runner out at the plate. So, let's leave Shoeless Joe out of it. His salary in 1919 was $6,000 – about $110,000 in today's money. Local judges who can't hit MLB fastballs make more than that. These NBA players and former players were paid millions of dollars to play basketball. If the allegations prove true, they are – in the words of Charles Barkley – stupid for getting involved.

The defendants, as we learned this week, include 13 members and associates of New York-based crime families (always good to see the families working together), and are accused of using insider National Basketball Association information to win player prop bets along with using technology to rig poker games. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel and United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. announced the charges on Thursday, Oct. 23 along with local law enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.

"That's all well and good," Ratch said, "But remember back when we were at the pony track and you got an inside tip from a jockey's cute wife who was sitting right up next to you there in northern Kentucky? What about that? You got a tip on the Daily Double and old Speculatrix won the second race and you cashed in. Where was the FBI back then?"

Ratch, you were not with me that night. I rode a bus from the University of Cincinnati over to Latonia. You've just heard me tell that old tale. You do not know its accuracy, and I simply cannot remember. But again, like Shoeless Joe, I was working for peanuts back then. To pick up $300 on a $2 DD wager was more than a week's pay. The young lady was very nice, too, as I recall. She even asked me to cash in a few wagers for her. She must have been lucky.

"So, when you get a tip at the track, it's fine," Ratch interjected, "But when the professionals try to do the same thing, they get busted. I just don't see any difference."

Let me break it down for you, Ratch, before the PBR gets what's left of your common sense. It's about the integrity of the game and all of its participants. The rumors around racetracks decades ago were fairly common. Maybe I took advantage of one of the rumors a time or two. I certainly needed the money. Today's million-dollar athletes don't.

Major League Baseball's Rule 21 explains it: MISCONDUCT IN PLAYING BASEBALL. Any player or person connected with a Club who shall promise or agree to lose, or to attempt to lose, or to fail to give his best efforts towards the winning of any baseball game with which he is or may be in any way concerned, or who shall intentionally lose or attempt to lose, or intentionally fail to give his best efforts towards the winning of any such baseball game, or who shall solicit or attempt to induce any player or person connected with a Club to lose or attempt to lose, or to fail to give his best efforts towards the winning of any baseball game with which such other player or person is or may be in any way concerned, or who, being solicited by any person, shall fail to inform the Commissioner (in the case of a player or person associated with a Major League Club) or the President of the Minor League Association (in the case of a player or person associated with an independent Minor League Club) immediately of such solicitation, and of all facts and circumstance connected therewith, shall be declared permanently ineligible.

"All right, all right. Enough with your fancy argument," Ratch said. "Just one last question: Would you put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame? He was just ahead of his time."

I do not have a vote, my friend. But given professional sports' recent revenue-enhancing affiliation with gambling, maybe old Peter Edward Rose was ahead of his time. Let it ride.

And please do not ask my thoughts on the Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors' emergency bylaw referendum on Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). OHSAA member schools will cast their votes from Nov. 17-21, with the high school principal submitting the vote on behalf of the school. 

I can only imagine where a student-athlete from Whiteoak High School (my school, class of 1979) might go to solicit NIL money. Chuck Wait Tire might have a few requests!! (Good luck, Chuck!)

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press, Highland County's only locally owned and operated newspaper.