684 - Pete Rose - part three

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds
Episode 684: Pete Rose - Part Three
Release Date: May 20, 2025

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1. Overview

In episode 684 of The Dollop, hosts Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds delve into the tumultuous life and legacy of Pete Rose, the all-time Major League Baseball (MLB) hit leader who remains one of the most controversial figures in sports history. This third installment continues to unpack Rose's gambling scandals, his interactions with criminal elements, the subsequent investigations, and the lasting impact on his career and personal life.

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2. Pete Rose's Gambling Activities

Timestamp: [04:18]

Dave and Gareth begin by detailing Rose's extensive involvement in gambling, highlighting his insatiable need for money due to a persistent gambling addiction. Rose's bets weren't confined to his own team; he regularly wagered on various baseball teams like the Braves, Mets, Phillies, Yankees, and notably, the Reds, the team he played for and managed. This behavior led him into deep financial trouble, particularly owing $250,000 to New York mob-connected bookies.

Notable Quote:

Dave Anthony [05:27]: "He bets on football and basketball. And that has him in deep for 250,000 to the New York mob."

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3. Involvement with Bookies and Criminal Elements

Timestamp: [04:26]

Rose's gambling problem led him to associate with dubious characters, including a 19-year-old memorabilia dealer named Berto and Tommy Gsa, a steroid dealer. These associations brought three men into Rose's household, exacerbating his troubles. Rose's inability to manage his debts forced him to rely increasingly on these individuals, further intertwining his life with criminal activities.

Notable Quote:

Gareth Reynolds [04:49]: "Who's that? He has relics."

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4. Investigation and Ban from MLB

Timestamp: [10:00]

The FBI began scrutinizing Rose's activities, particularly targeting the cocaine and steroid ring he was involved in. Despite Rose's attempts to downplay his involvement, evidence started to mount against him. Rose's deception extended to denying betting on baseball while secretly wagering on other sports, a tactic he employed to mitigate MLB's reaction.

Notable Quote:

Dave Anthony [07:03]: "Mgr betting on his own team could harm the game."

As the investigation intensified, MLB officials, including Commissioner Peter Uberath, initiated formal proceedings against Rose. Uberath, an intellectual with a background in literature, faced immense pressure to handle the scandal appropriately. The investigation, led by attorney John Dowd, revealed Rose's consistent denial despite substantial evidence of his gambling on baseball.

Notable Quote:

Dave Anthony [27:16]: "I'm putting a restraining order on this case can't come within 300 yards of Pete Rose."

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5. Attempts to Rehabilitate Image and Hall of Fame Prospects

Timestamp: [43:12]

Despite mounting evidence and public scrutiny, Rose made several attempts to rehabilitate his image. He engaged in various media appearances, including selling memorabilia on home shopping channels and participating in WWE-style events. Additionally, Rose pursued inclusion into the Baseball Hall of Fame, arguing that his on-field achievements warranted recognition regardless of his off-field misconduct.

Notable Quote:

Gareth Reynolds [48:20]: "The hall of Fame should have a room for Barry Bonds and Pete Rose."

However, these efforts were continually undermined by new allegations, including statutory rape claims involving underage girls, further tarnishing his reputation and making Hall of Fame induction increasingly improbable.

Notable Quote:

Dave Anthony [54:31]: "That's statutory rape every time you do that."

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6. Consequences and Legacy

Timestamp: [46:21]

Rose's permanent ban from MLB had significant repercussions on his life. Although he attempted to maintain a presence in the baseball community, his actions led to a lifelong ostracization from the sport. His legacy remains a complex interplay of unparalleled achievement and profound ethical failures, serving as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked addiction and moral compromise.

Notable Quote:

Dave Anthony [69:10]: "The hall of Fame is the hall of Fame. It's not the Good guy Fame."

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7. Current Status and Final Developments

Timestamp: [67:01]

In a surprising twist two weeks post-recording, Rose was reinstated by MLB, allowing him to be part of baseball events once again. While his induction into the Hall of Fame remains uncertain, this reinstatement marks a significant shift in MLB's stance toward his legacy.

Notable Quote:

Dave Anthony [67:44]: "He's going to be in the hall of Fame now."

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8. Hosts' Reflections and Broader Implications

Throughout the episode, Dave and Gareth reflect on broader themes such as accountability in sports, the influence of personal behavior on professional legacy, and the challenges of separating an individual's achievements from their personal misconduct. They critique the structures within MLB that allowed Rose's misconduct to remain unaddressed for so long and discuss the cultural shifts regarding accountability and redemption.

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Conclusion

This episode of The Dollop offers a comprehensive and critical examination of Pete Rose's enduring legacy in baseball, emphasizing the intricate balance between athletic prowess and personal integrity. Through their engaging banter and incisive commentary, Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds provide listeners with a nuanced understanding of how one man's choices can redefine his place in history.

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Transcript

[Dave Anthony]

The Dollop is going on tour in June 2025. We will be in Sacramento on June 3rd. We'll be in Boise, Idaho on June 4th, Spokane on June 5th, Seattle on June 6th, Portland on June 7th, Bend, Oregon on June 8th, and San Francisco on June 10th. Go to the dollop podcast.com to get all our tour links for tickets. You're listening to the Dollop on the All Things Comedy Network. This is an American history podcast where each week I, Dave Anthony, read a story from American history to what is essentially a plant.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Plants are awesome. Gareth Reynolds, who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. If I'm a plant, I'm providing a lot more than a comedian. How dare you? Well, here we go. The last episode of the show of all time.

[Dave Anthony]

It's been a good run.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I've enjoyed it. It's great meeting you and.

[Dave Anthony]

But look, I'm retiring upstate to upstate Montana. I mean, with your mom. And we're just gonna get a little cabin there.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Nope.

[Dave Anthony]

Stabbing cabin is what it's called.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yuck. Yeah. Yeah, it's just. Just terrible.

[Dave Anthony]

Well, you went to a stabbing cabin with my dad.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I did not.

[Dave Anthony]

Well, not what the police say.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I went to a strangle yurt.

[Dave Anthony]

That's not cool.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What? I miss it more than you know.

[Dave Anthony]

Well, yeah, everybody does misses more than me.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah. So there you go.

[Dave Anthony]

I miss my dad the least.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's. It's a shame that he had to go.

[Dave Anthony]

You know what's interesting is when people go, well, you just. You. I mean, you just need time to feel it. Like, it's not been a lot of time. It's not.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's not there yet.

[Dave Anthony]

People who are okay with.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Can we just.

[Dave Anthony]

Parents dying.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Favorite memory of him? What was his name?

[Dave Anthony]

Michael. Michael James Anthony. M.J. oh, sorry. James. Michael. He never used James. He went by Michael, but James Michael. Favorite memory.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Wait, so his initials where?

[Dave Anthony]

Jm.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Jm.

[Dave Anthony]

Jma.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Jma.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. Boy, favorite memory is a tough one.

[Gareth Reynolds]

All right. I thought it would come quicker, but I guess not.

[Dave Anthony]

It's interesting. I wonder. I wonder how fast my. The same thing would happen with my sister. She'd be like.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, when he gave you the quarters. He gave him to her costume as quarters was pretty cool.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, he gave.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, that's pretty cool.

[Dave Anthony]

Fuck, dude. I really.

[Gareth Reynolds]

My favorite was when he and I one time we went fishing and he threw the pole and he jumped in and he came out with a fish in his mouth like a bear.

[Dave Anthony]

That's a movie. Oh, that's not. It's a great scene that didn't happen to you.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, okay. My favorite, my, my. Honestly, my favorite moment that I ever had with your dad was this one time we were. We were on a train and we had an argument and we ended up on the top of the train while it was moving and we just fought each other. And. And then as, as we were going through as, as, as it was getting intense, he.

[Dave Anthony]

He.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He was on top of me and he's going, I'm smarter than you. I'm better than you. I'm better than you. And I just kind of held his head up and his head got taken off by a light and I said, yeah, well, I'm taller.

[Dave Anthony]

That's also a movie.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh.

[Dave Anthony]

None of your memories of my dad are actual memories. 1985.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Let me do this five more times.

[Dave Anthony]

Pedro's has now broken the all time MLB hit record.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right.

[Dave Anthony]

And he wants to capitalize.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sure.

[Dave Anthony]

He also needs money because he can't stop gambling.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah. Because he's in with a Jim Cokehead.

[Dave Anthony]

He met a 19 year old memorabilia dealer. Dealer. He met a 19 year old memorabilia dealer named Berto and moved him into the house with Tommy gsa and it was a sidekick errand boy. So now there's three guys living in the place.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, you know, you're probably inviting too many people into your house when the memorabilia guy is one of them.

[Dave Anthony]

Excuse me.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Who's that? He. He has relics.

[Dave Anthony]

So Berto takes pictures, he sells autographs. He makes Pete's bets with two mob connected brothers in New York.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I gotta say, all I knew was that Pete Rose was a gambler. Yeah, that really doesn't do it justice for.

[Dave Anthony]

Really doesn't.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What is actually the chaos around Chaos.

[Dave Anthony]

He's now regularly betting on baseball, the Braves, the Mets, the Phillies, the Yankees and the team he plays and manages for the Reds. He has relatively good success because it's a sport. He knows.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It was. He wasn't his whole contention that he never bet on his own team.

[Dave Anthony]

That's correct.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So he is betting on. And baseball and baseball. I didn't. Okay. Right. So he said he never bet on baseball.

[Dave Anthony]

Right.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right. Okay.

[Dave Anthony]

He bets on football and basketball. And that has him in deep for 250,000 to the new York mob.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So he's good at it.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. So this is why sports leagues ban gambling for players. Because now the bookies own you. And Pete has long said. And a book obtained by ESPN's Outside the Line corroborates that Pete always bet on his team to win. But quote A manager betting on his own team could harm the game. Even if he was betting on the team to win, he could overuse a pitcher or refuse to test or to rest a starter in pursuit of his own financial gain. And what he wagered or didn't wager could move markets in the underworld. The Boogies in New York surely noticed when Berto was betting against Pete. So not Pete, but when Berto made his own bed. Any bookie would wonder if Berto had inside information it would make it worthwhile to go against the Reds that night. The bookies also surely noticed when Pete didn't bet on the Reds, he wasn't betting against his team, he was just betting on them. So I. Until I read this, I've always been like, who cares if you bet on your own team?

[Gareth Reynolds]

But that argument.

[Dave Anthony]

My argument is gone.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Exactly what I just went through, completely gone. Because that was what he always said. I always bet on him to win.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. My own team to win.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But now you know that if. Especially if you're the manager, you can definitely be.

[Dave Anthony]

It's true. When you don't, then people like, oh, they're gonna lose.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

So, yeah, I. Because I've always made that argument now, like that paragraph, I'm just like.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, it's crazy at this point for me, it's just crazy to bet on your own team.

[Dave Anthony]

I mean.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I mean, the idea that you're gonna be, like, making any decisions, it's just. What a crazy energy. You're like, man, coach is intense today.

[Dave Anthony]

I mean, he's a. When you're an addict, we gotta win. Yeah. No, he. Imagine how crazy they're gonna take my big toe. Imagine how crazy he was if he bet on his team and they were losing. Imagine how crazy he was in the dugout. And the shit you do. Like, because there are games, you just. You. It's a. It's a. It's 182 game season. So you're resting players a certain time, you're doing certain things so you don't want to wear them out. But if you bet on that game, you're gon throw everything out like it's the game set on the World Series because you made a bet.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Is he still playing?

[Dave Anthony]

Pete Rose?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

No, he's dead.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, no, in. In this. The just happened. What the.

[Dave Anthony]

I'm sorry.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That'd be. Oh, man, that'd be awesome if he was still playing. Yeah, he's still playing.

[Dave Anthony]

I think. Yeah, he's still playing.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Dave Anthony]

I think so.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, I know he's the coach, the manager, player.

[Dave Anthony]

But it's like, I don't know how much he's playing. He's probably not playing nearly as much.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right.

[Dave Anthony]

So at this point, I mean, who. Who knows why Pete cuts Tommy out of his life in favor of Tom, Tommy's steroid dealer, Paul Jansen. So this kid, he's.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He's just ruined this kid's life.

[Dave Anthony]

He's had this kid around forever. He. The kid's path probably went different. He probably want. I want to be baseball player. Oh, my God. I'm not a good baseball player. Instead, he gets Pete Rose, who puts him on a minor league team. And then the kid starts doing steroids to, like, whatever. I mean, he's around drugs because of Pete. He's around the lifestyle because of Pete. So who knows what the kid's life would have been?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sure.

[Dave Anthony]

And now he just cuts him out.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sure.

[Dave Anthony]

And who knows why? Sure. And now it's the steroid dealer that takes Tommy's place. Pete told Tommy it was because he was acting crazy in front of a racetrack owner, but everyone was hooting and hollering and acting the same. Yeah, it seems as if Pete was.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Just like a range track owner's like, a little decorum, please, okay? We're trying to run a classy establishment here. Now excuse me while I go kill four horses because they didn't run as fast as I thought they would.

[Dave Anthony]

Give me the bat.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

It seems as if Pete was just tired of him, had used him up. There was only one job left for Tommy. Picking up a check for 34,000 and splitting it with a bookie and then getting out of town. And the $17,000 were all Tommy had. Tommy's an addict. His longtime girlfriend was threatening to leave him, and he has no friends. Now, through Paul, the new dealer, Pete finds another. Sorry, the new Tommy, old dealer.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sure.

[Dave Anthony]

He finds another book in Staten Island. I mean, imagine how many bookies he's gone through.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, but again. But I mean, the idea. Again, it's just like you're doubling down. Yeah, because some bookies are probably like, no.

[Dave Anthony]

Then you go to the new book. You gotta pay off the old bookie. Pete stips him as he does.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sure.

[Dave Anthony]

But this guy, he's not down.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right.

[Dave Anthony]

He threatens violence. And he tells Paul it's his problem. He's gonna hurt you. I'm gonna hurt you. But Pete's like, yeah, I'm not.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Dave Anthony]

It's you, not me.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

So Paul has to cobble together 34, 000 from savings, friends and family. Meanwhile, the police are closing in on Rhode island mob bookie Joe Cambra.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Hey, I don't know. It seems like I. I guess this new guy, the guy who's wearing the hat that's a satellite dish. You think he's a little strange?

[Dave Anthony]

Mine seems a little weird.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

A wiretap records him talking to his boss about Pete wanting to play $6,000 on a football game. But even more damning, when they kick down camera's door, the phone is ringing.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, my God. Hello? Hey, this is Pete Rose, future hall of famer. Listen, I. I want to put $15,000 on Granson in the highlight championships.

[Dave Anthony]

One of the investigators picks up and says, camera can't come to the phone. And the voice says, quote, just tell him Pete Rose called.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, Pete.

[Dave Anthony]

Why would you use your full name? Have a code name?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Holy asp.

[Dave Anthony]

Rose is my bookie.

[Gareth Reynolds]

How are you? Pete Rose, Cincinnati player turned manager. So dumb. Did anyone ever call Cheat Rose? Did that ever catch up?

[Dave Anthony]

I don't think so. Hello, Crime house.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah. Yes, hello. This is the New York Police Department. Hi, this is Pete Rose. How are you? Are you guys taking any bets? I'm in deep.

[Dave Anthony]

The s. The FBI had finally figured out what was going on at Gold's Gym, and they wanted to take down every person involved in the cocaine and steroid ring.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Dave Anthony]

They started with the owner, made a deal with him to set up a supplier, who they popped and confiscated millions in cash. So next on their list was Pete's new buddy, Paul Jansen. When the FBI knocked on his door, Paul was polite.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But wasn't Paul living with him?

[Dave Anthony]

I don't know. He might be living his girlfriend at this point. Paul was polite, but no, you're thinking of the other guy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay. The.

[Dave Anthony]

I don't think Paul ever moved in.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Dave Anthony]

It was Berto that moved in.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Dave Anthony]

Paul's polite but very curt because he wants to protect Pete.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sure.

[Dave Anthony]

The FBI suggested that maybe it's time Paul gets a lawyer. And Paul's girlfriend went to Pete's lawyer, Reuben Katz, and told them everything. And he's like, I. I need a lawyer, and I need money to pay for the lawyer. And the money I need is the money that Pete. That Pete owes me. So Paul said he bet on baseball and on the Reds that. That Pete had.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

And Paul said of the lawyer, quote, he put his head down and made a gesture with his hands, and he said, that's it. It's over.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sorry.

[Dave Anthony]

That's my lawyer.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sorry. Are you gonna take our case or.

[Dave Anthony]

Can you put an ice pick into my brain?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay, I.

[Dave Anthony]

Just kill me.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, we really. We think we have a shot.

[Dave Anthony]

I'll take your case.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay, great.

[Dave Anthony]

My God. Pick up that stool and bash my head in.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, I can't. Really. The best lawyer. World of bullshit to hear the lawyer like we're dead.

[Dave Anthony]

Now all Paul wants is the money. And Pete has a net worth of at least 3 million. And he owes him like 34 grand. But to Pete, I don't.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Explain that to me.

[Dave Anthony]

Why he doesn't pay him. Yeah, because it's the thing where he just. I don't need to.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right.

[Dave Anthony]

He's gotten away with not paying people for so long. I mean, Terry, even all of his.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Gambling debts, he's still just trying to kind of pay them off because he doesn't want to take the hit.

[Dave Anthony]

But this isn't a gambling debt. It's just money that Paul paid.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right.

[Dave Anthony]

To cover his gambling debt. Because Paul was going to get hurt.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right.

[Dave Anthony]

And Paul, to him is just another friend to, you know, use up and cast off. Right. So Ruben calls his lawyer, calls Pete and tells him what Paul said. And Pete gives Paul 10,000. This will. How's this? This is not enough.

[Gareth Reynolds]

There you go.

[Dave Anthony]

It's not enough. Good.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Here's a third of what I owe you. Almost.

[Dave Anthony]

Here's nowhere near what I.

[Gareth Reynolds]

There you go. Sorry about all that. Here's a small part of it.

[Dave Anthony]

Here's almost nothing.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You have $3 million. He's a little bit. Here's way less than what you need.

[Dave Anthony]

It's 3/4 less what he owed. So it's just. That's a slap in the face to Paul. And as soon as he opened the check.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Does he know about the FBI coming after him? Paul about. Does Pete know that?

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, because he went and told the lawyer.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Why the would you not give him 34, 000 right away? Just be like, bro, shut him up. Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

This is the one guy you pay off? He's the guy. Yes. Well, it's the same thing with Tommy. You just cut Tommy out. Tommy could also him.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, but this is a direct. Like the FBI is contacting me.

[Dave Anthony]

Like.

[Gareth Reynolds]

All right, I'll give you a little bit.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. So as soon as Paul opens up the check, he knows exactly what he has to do. He walks downstairs to a pay phone and calls the FBI. So Paul starts cooperating with the feds, helping them take down the crazy cokehead bookie from Gold's Gym, the cocaine supplier. He did everything he could except right on, Pete.

[Gareth Reynolds]

God, these People are such Stockholmy.

[Dave Anthony]

This is why the whole Otani thing makes me go, yeah, right, because this has happened many times.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, right.

[Dave Anthony]

When the gym was busted, Pete denied ever going there, which was very strange because he let.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Welcome to the Pete Rose Cocaine Room.

[Dave Anthony]

Because he let the owner put out ads with his picture on them saying.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'm Pete Rose and I only go to Gold's Gym.

[Dave Anthony]

This one specifically saying he exercised there. Let him make Gold Gym sweatshirts with his name on them and even let them call it Pete Rose's Gold's Gym. I've never been there.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Pete Rose's Gold Gym. I never even been there. I don't even know what Gold's Gym is. There's a bunch of merch with your face on it.

[Dave Anthony]

I didn't do cocaine at the juice bar.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I don't know what you. I never been there before. Oh, it's great, right?

[Dave Anthony]

So it. So a year has gone by since he. Since Paul talked to the lawyer. Right. Cats. And Paul wrote him a letter. Now, quote, I have a feeling that you and Mr. Rose discussed our meeting and concluded that a non committal stance by yourself might discourage me. And I dry up and blow away. Well, I don't intend to. He went on to say, Pete was too ignorant to recognize the damage that Paul could do if he went public with these claims and then got to the point. Quote, I'm prepared and anxious to prove this in court if necessary. I wasn't put on earth to be Pete Rose's doormat. It is time for him to take responsibility for his actions and if need be, get some professional help along the way before he has nothing left.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Wow.

[Dave Anthony]

So that's a threat. Yeah, that's a. That's a genuine.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I like the idea of saying he needs help, too.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, but it's too late. Rumors are swirling.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sure.

[Dave Anthony]

The rumors are that someone named the Skin man as recordings where Pete admitted into gambling.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Fucking Skin Man. I knew I shouldn't have trusted the guy.

[Dave Anthony]

I mean, he sounds like such a comforting good name. The Skin Man.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Look, it's like.

[Dave Anthony]

It's like when I did my old.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Buddy, the kidney guy, I told the Skin man everything.

[Dave Anthony]

I really. I mean, you hear a guy named the Skin man and you're like, just let it out.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, I really. I'm just picturing a naked guy full of folds. How are you, Pete? Hey, Skin Man.

[Dave Anthony]

Hi, Pete.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's just. He takes like a hit. It just like takes a hit of something and the Skin man appears. Hello, Peter. It's the Skin Man.

[Dave Anthony]

The IRS agents were circling to nab Pete for lying about gambling wins on his taxes, even though the FBI ultimately chose not to press charges because they, quote, didn't want another John DeLorean situation.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, my God. Well, we all. What if the.

[Dave Anthony]

We all want a John DeLorean situation?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Giving us John DeLorean.

[Dave Anthony]

How do we get.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Doll ain't broke. Crikey.

[Dave Anthony]

They did hand the investigation over to the one place Pete did not want it to go. Major League Baseball. Oh, you don't. With the baseball guys. So tired of waiting for Pete's lawyer.

[Gareth Reynolds]

How the FBI turns an investigation over to mlb.

[Dave Anthony]

I think it means that. So for a federal prosecutor to go after you, they usually have, like, their success rate is crazy on. On prosecutions. That's why. That's why I think Elon Musk was going down, because the doj.

[Gareth Reynolds]

All right, let's. Let's not make this political. We don't see eye to eye on Elon. Been able to do a podcast despite that.

[Dave Anthony]

So they probably were a little worried about witnesses or, you know, it's probably all sort of nebulous. Like, you could tie them together. Like, maybe you could do it in, like, a city court or whatever. But feds really want to lock it down before they go after you.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right.

[Dave Anthony]

So they probably didn't have it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Probably easier for mlb, too, because they're.

[Dave Anthony]

Like, yeah, MLB can. It's a private corporation. They can just do what they want.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right.

[Dave Anthony]

So Paul's tired of waiting for Pete's lawyer to get back to him, so he calls Sports Illustrated.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Nice. Smart.

[Dave Anthony]

There have been rumors about Pete's gambling problems for years, but nobody in the press had anything concrete.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Dave Anthony]

Now real witness who was involved just waltzes up to Sports Illustrated writer Robert Sullivan with the story. After a few conversations, Sullivan is convinced Paul's telling the truth, and the magazine assigns several writers to fan out across Cincinnati in what is going to become one of the most explosive stories in the history of sports.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, my God.

[Dave Anthony]

They had to move fast, though, because of other outlets heard about it. You know, they get in there quicker.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And maybe do a shittier job.

[Dave Anthony]

But the problem was there was a mole inside of Sports Illustrated's newsroom, and he tipped off MLB about.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, okay. Right, right. So, Pete, is this the same thing happened with David Stern in basketball with the Donahue?

[Dave Anthony]

Oh, ye.

[Gareth Reynolds]

There was like a. They rushed to get out their own investigative findings before. I can't remember whatever the FBI did.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And then it was sort of. It became a little like it Became harder to win that narrative.

[Dave Anthony]

Right, Right. So Pete is at spring training, and he gets word while he was running wind sprints and making fun of his players for getting fat during the off season.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Give me. You are a psychopath. You are out of your fucking tits. If all this is going on and you still feel comfortable doing wind sprints. Busted chops. It is so fun. You would not see me. You would be. They'd be like, where is Garrett? They'd be like, oh, you see that, like, pile of cigarette butts with hair poking out of it? That's him.

[Dave Anthony]

He gets word that the commissioner wants to see him in New York tomorrow. So if they. The commission. If you're in spring training, and they're like, commission needs to see you tomorrow. You're fine.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, I have a debt. Pete Rose. Pete Rose would be like, it's got to be good news.

[Dave Anthony]

I'm gonna win an award.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I think he's got a teenage daughter. He wants me to pour.

[Dave Anthony]

They're gonna declare me Mr. Baseball. Let me. Their kids.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I think I got a good feeling about this, everybody. He's putting on a bib for no reason.

[Dave Anthony]

So the next morning, Pete is sitting across the table from three men. Faye Vincent, who looks like a thumb made out of marshmallows.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Dave, I hate to do it, but it's a very. It's a very specific thing. You've said Faye Vincent.

[Dave Anthony]

Faye Vincent. And then there is soon. Am I right? Josh? Right? Josh wrote that.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He really.

[Dave Anthony]

He does, Right?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

He's. He's not. It's not.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I don't want to be too rude.

[Dave Anthony]

It's not great.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I don't want to be too rude. I don't want to. I don't want to say this, but it looks like if Sloth from the Goonies got a makeover, I mean.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And then.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. No, it's. It's like. It's like, hey, party was melting. So the next. The next guy at the table is the soon to be baseball commissioner, Bart Giamatti, who was an odd guy for his time and a man who would never be chosen to be a commissioner of pro sports today. Okay, every. Now. They're all finance guys or union busting lawyers working inside whatever bar. G. Moni had a doctorate in comparative literature and was an expert in Renaissance epic poetry.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Whoa.

[Dave Anthony]

But he was a union busting ass when he was a president of Yale. But he's an intellectual Italian American. He was greeted as Yale's first ethnic president. He's Italian. The first ever to not Come from the wonderful Anglo Saxon stock. His portrait was hung in local Italian bars.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay, sure.

[Dave Anthony]

He worked at Yale for three decades before joining MLB as the president of the National League and then ultimately, ultimately became commissioner. And then the third guy, he's also Paul Giamatti's dad. The third guy was Commissioner Peter Uberath.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Dave Anthony]

From the dollop la la 1984 Olympics episode. He increased revenue for the league. He ran the 1944 Olympics.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, right. He's a business guy for.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, killed the eagle.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Kill. Right, Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

A increased revenue for the league to a degree never before seen. He facilitated collusion between the owners to violate the league's collective bargaining agreement, which means he helping owners work together to steal money from the players, which led to over $280 million dollars in fines. But he did one thing that is relevant to Pete Rose. He reinstated two baseball legends, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, who had been banned by the prior commissioner because of their associate association with casinos.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, wow.

[Dave Anthony]

I did not know.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I didn't either. So he let them both come back in?

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

How old?

[Dave Anthony]

Like, they must have been retired when that happened.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, okay, I get it now, I think. Right? That'd be amazing.

[Dave Anthony]

Or it must have been retired when he let them back in.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I mean, right? That's what. Yeah, right.

[Dave Anthony]

Commissioner, you ball.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I've been waiting for the call for a long time. No, no, it's just performative. All right?

[Dave Anthony]

Commissioner Uber off wanted this whole mess to go away. All he needed was for Pete to just sit there, admit he had done something wrong, get treatment, and not do it again. Then he'd avoid being banned for life. Instead, Pete sat there and told them he had never betted on baseball.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Jesus Christ.

[Dave Anthony]

Sure, maybe put some money down on football and basketball, but never baseball. Uber off didn't want this hanging over his head at the end of his tenure. But he had no choice. So he set up an investigation led by a really big lawyer, John Dowd. Dowd is. Interesting choice. He was an attorney who took down mafia guys. But he also protected scumbags like an Air Force colonel who secretly gave weapons to the murderous rapists in the the Nicaragua Contras.

[Gareth Reynolds]

To be fair, if it's war based in our.

[Dave Anthony]

It's not good.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, that's okay.

[Dave Anthony]

No, it's not.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Actually, yeah, it is.

[Dave Anthony]

I mean, nuns, huh? He spilled everything to doubt, sparing absolutely no detail. So Pete's old little buddy Tommy Giosa is a very emotional guy. He's also a steroid guy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, he's now £700 and crying. He's the Hulk. He's an emotional hulk.

[Dave Anthony]

I'm all back. Acne.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

He loved Pete for taking him out of obscurity. Introducing to the whole million.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's been very difficult to be cut out of Pete's life.

[Dave Anthony]

I got a shot at playing pro baseball. He loves Pete for this stuff.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sure.

[Dave Anthony]

Also booze, women, drugs, like the whole thing. But now he's living in his parents home with his girlfriend.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Let me just. The unsung heroes of this episode are his parents who let an emotional coke giant come live in their house again. Mom, where's the milk?

[Dave Anthony]

Just moving your parents out there. Your girlfriend has got to be such a power.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But to be £400 of Roy.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Maybe you don't really need to be that big anymore.

[Dave Anthony]

Honey, I gotta lift the house.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I decided, yeah. I'm gonna try to grab a plane out of the sky.

[Dave Anthony]

So the FBI comes to the door. John Dowd calls and he. Tommy's just not gonna rat on Pete.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sure, that's sad too.

[Dave Anthony]

But he also knows Pete would never.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You should tell on him. He's my best friend.

[Dave Anthony]

He's my best. But would Pete do that for you? No.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No. Well, maybe. I don't know. He won't answer my call.

[Dave Anthony]

He knows Pete would never do that for him. He would rat him out in a heartbeat. Tommy's prize for standing by his friend? Two years in prison. Wow. Finally it comes time for Pete to sit down with Dowd. Go one on one with the guys running the investigation. Who's gonna basically decide his fucking legacy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right?

[Dave Anthony]

Dowd has a seven hour deposition where Pete.

[Gareth Reynolds]

How long until Pete just runs through him?

[Dave Anthony]

Where Pete refuses to acknowledge anything about betting on baseball. He said he was only guilty of quote, being a horseshit selector of friends.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He's well, by the way, he was supposed to be able to pick a pony, but he's the horseshit. The hubris.

[Dave Anthony]

It's crazy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Is off the charts, obviously, and you understand why. Where is motivated from. But that's still amazing. To think that you could get away with that.

[Dave Anthony]

It's insane.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What are you a president?

[Dave Anthony]

What do you run a car company?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

Dowd could tell he was lying. He said if Pete's lawyer was any good, he'd wring Pete's neck until he realized his best option was to cut a deal. And there are many deals they're offering no. Fewer than four deals are on the table.

[Gareth Reynolds]

How about the investigation goes away if the Reds win tonight? Peter, come on. Trust me. I know how to get these Guys, working if I need to.

[Dave Anthony]

Okay, two deals on the next game.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay, how about we do a parlay, all baseball based.

[Dave Anthony]

If I win, I'm the commissioner of baseball.

[Gareth Reynolds]

If I win, I never gambled on this sport.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. So Uberath has now stepped down. He's been replaced by Giamatti. All Pete needs to do is admit his wrongdoing, work on being a better person, and he's not going to be banned for life. I mean, they're giving him. That's a biggest. But it's the biggest get out of jail card.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, my God. It's crazy, especially knowing how it plays. I mean, it's just like, bro, he. He can't lose.

[Dave Anthony]

He cannot lose. He cannot lose. That's right. Yeah. Not only did Pete refuse, he went to war instead. Pete found a local judge who was up for re election and got him a ton of positive press by having him place a restraining order on Pete's case, blocking the commissioner from ruling on it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Wow, that's so crazy to me. Like, it doesn't even sound possible.

[Dave Anthony]

It's. Yeah, it's really just like, I'm putting.

[Gareth Reynolds]

A restraining order on this. This case can't come within 300 yards of Pete Rose.

[Dave Anthony]

So Giamatti is livid.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Which we've seen on screen many times. It's a dynamic performance if you want.

[Dave Anthony]

To imagine what it looked like. Picture Paul Giamatti going nuts.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, hey, there you go. Hey, Joshy.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. Miraculously, Pete's ploy worked crazy for about 24 hours.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, yeah. Okay.

[Dave Anthony]

The commissioner couldn't rule on the report, but a lawsuit by the Cleveland Plain Dealer forced the MLB to release it. I'm sure MLB was like, yeah, yeah, we're ready. I'm sure they were. They were on there like, oh, you know, we're going to drop all of our resistance to that. 3000 pages on Pete Rose's just being a scumbag. Anyone can look at it now. Starting the night of Monday, August 21, 1989, five things happened in order. Pete and the Reds defeated The Chicago Cubs 6 to 5. Okay. Gotta win. Sure. Pete's wife Carol gave birth to the fourth child Pete cared about, but fifth one overall.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Jesus Christ.

[Dave Anthony]

Pete signed an agreement that he would be banished from baseball forever.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Holy.

[Dave Anthony]

Pete spent two hours in Minneapolis with a nice man named Alan selling memorabilia on a home shopping channel.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, my God, What a day, right?

[Dave Anthony]

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[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

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[Gareth Reynolds]

Yep.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, the little snake guy is.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Whoa, stop now. I think enough science.

[Dave Anthony]

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[Gareth Reynolds]

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[Dave Anthony]

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[Gareth Reynolds]

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I keep telling them that should be the slogan.

[Dave Anthony]

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[Gareth Reynolds]

By Factor Coconut Curried lime Tofu Dave. That's the latest long line of delicious factor meals that I've rocked.

[Dave Anthony]

That sounds really good. Now I want that. I had herb, chicken thighs and a little balsamic mushroom thing which was.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You're a devil.

[Dave Anthony]

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[Gareth Reynolds]

I told you, Luke and I, when we were on the road, I brought a few with us. It was in a hotel and I made one And I was like, this is the greatest thing I've ever had. So good.

[Dave Anthony]

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[Gareth Reynolds]

I wept.

[Dave Anthony]

So look, we're talking about two minute meals from Factor Eating. Well, never been as easy. This is the easiest ever going to get. You just heat it up, you enjoy. It takes like two minutes and off you go with food in your, in your guts. Well, I think that's the right term. I think get outside instead of prepping and cooking indoors. Factor Meals arrive fresh and easy to eat, perfect for an active lifestyle. They got 45 weekly menu options. It's a lot if you don't know.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What a menu is of juices and smoothies and all that stuff.

[Dave Anthony]

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[Gareth Reynolds]

He's our child.

[Dave Anthony]

We're also brought to you by Chewy. Yeah, Chewy.com is a place where Gareth and I do our pet shopping for all our pet needs. That's where I get the medicines for them and I get the treats and the little snacky things they like and the food. I get it all there.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's easy to have a subscription and honest to God, like we were saying before, we love Chewy, but I heard something about Chewy that made me be like, this company is just next level, which is, you know, you sometimes have your subscription like food or medicine or whatever it might be, and if and when it happens and your animal passes, they're going to obviously send you one and then you're going to go, oh, my God, this is horrible. And Chewy not only cancels the subscription, gives you your money back, but they let you keep the thing and suggest you go donate it to a shelter for animals.

[Dave Anthony]

That's nice.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah. It's like they are a next level good company.

[Dave Anthony]

They also offer prescription medications and telehealth vet visits and pet insurance. And they're expanding in person vet clinics across the country. So look, we're both obviously big fans of Chewy. That's where I do. My God, it's so much easier to get your pet food that way. I cannot eat it. It's just amazing.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's the easiest.

[Dave Anthony]

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[Gareth Reynolds]

Stay with us. We will start using Chewy.

[Dave Anthony]

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[Gareth Reynolds]

Now it's. Now it's how you become a one of a Fortune 500 company. I don't know if you heard about this, but Gear Corps is finally going public or whatever on the stock market.

[Dave Anthony]

You should know what it is. If Gear Core is actually going to go public.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'm ringing the bell at the.

[Dave Anthony]

So you have your exchange, you have your Gear Corps website set up.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Is that a part of that?

[Dave Anthony]

Why else would you be talking about it during the Squarespace.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I've had a couple cocktails. No, we always say it. All of our websites are websites and they keep adding more and they look professional. They're eat. Like if we have websites, you know, it's not that hard. And you can. We are going to be adding merch to our website through Squarespace at some point. It's just.

[Dave Anthony]

We keep saying that.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, we are doing. But there's. We're trying to get it done. It's hard.

[Dave Anthony]

That's one of the things that. Yeah, the issue is not Squarespace. No, it's. It's us.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I wish we could blame them. They're ready to go.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. So you can sell stuff on Squarespace, can do invoices and online payments and you can sell videos if you want.

[Gareth Reynolds]

SEO tools.

[Dave Anthony]

Video stuff. Yeah. Yeah. You don't even know what that is. Yeah, I do. You can add a paywall so you can do your online online courses.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Do you know what?

[Dave Anthony]

Tutorial, premium workshops. It's when you're. When you're like left behind, like maybe even an island. And you're like, SOS SEO.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Get out of here.

[Dave Anthony]

Oh, well, this got weird.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Next ad, we should figure out what SEO tools are. But they got them. They got them, baby. They're the best. We love Squarespace.

[Dave Anthony]

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[Gareth Reynolds]

Boom.

[Dave Anthony]

Bada good, boo.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He signs a lifetime ban deal.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And that's for what? No criminal prosecution or what.

[Dave Anthony]

It's gotta be. I don't know how they. I don't know why he signed the deal. It's. It's got to be once that report. It's a 3,000 page report.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah. That just damns you completely. But it also just shows you like why the would you not take one of those earlier deals.

[Dave Anthony]

Reporters met him in the shopping network. That's right. Now I remember why. Reporters met him in the shopping network studio parking lot and they knew. Everyone knows at that point.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

MLB had called a press conference for the morning. Pete then had to had to call his own press conference. He fought to include language in the agreement that ensured it wasn't a denial or admission of guilt. So he thinks that's how he. His.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Legacy save.

[Dave Anthony]

He's threaded the line. Right. He's got this, what a genius idea. He thought this is going to protect him, that he would ride the line. So he's shocked when the commissioner goes on TV and said he believed Pete bet on baseball and more specifically the Reds. And Pete's like, how could he do that when he signed language saying that that wouldn't happen. But he had it totally wrong. He thought that he and the MLB were committing to some sort of opinion based NDA type thing.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right.

[Dave Anthony]

But that, that's not a thing.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right. Well, you want to make sure that before you are like, all right, good.

[Dave Anthony]

That'll never get out.

[Gareth Reynolds]

There you go.

[Dave Anthony]

The commission was allowed to say whatever he thought. Pete's only move was tonight to deny that he bet on baseball while also having sign on to a permanent ban.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I. I cannot believe thinking that that is how an investigation works.

[Dave Anthony]

It's so dumb. It's so fucking like I would even.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Lee up to this point. There is footage of so many investigations.

[Dave Anthony]

But it, but it's not even so much an investigation that it's the court of public opinion that.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, right.

[Dave Anthony]

He wants to like.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But even then the idea that a prosecutor or someone investigating you can't say what they think.

[Dave Anthony]

No. It's insane.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Like that's all they do yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Dave Anthony]

So dumb. So. So he's. He's gonna deny that he'd been on baseball, but he signed the permanent ban. You would only. In the public's eye. You would only do that if you bet on baseball and didn't want any more information to come out.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's extremely the first thing I thought of without question.

[Dave Anthony]

Why would you sign if you didn't do it?

[Gareth Reynolds]

You'd fight it. You'd be like that.

[Dave Anthony]

So Pete didn't just look wrong. Now he looks stupid.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, right.

[Dave Anthony]

Nobody thought Pete would actually be banned for life, though. They're like, well, they'll come around. Everyone assumed he would repent, apologize, and become a better man. The only punishment that fit the crime for Giamatti was to put on. On baseball's banned list.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Huh.

[Dave Anthony]

And Giamatti made his ruling, and then just a few days later, died of a heart attack.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Whoa.

[Dave Anthony]

He was only 51.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What the. That's weird.

[Dave Anthony]

Giamatti, quote, baseball will break your heart. Everyone blamed Pete for Bart's death.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Good.

[Dave Anthony]

Especially new commissioner and human marshmallow thumb Faye Vincent.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sure. Absolutely.

[Dave Anthony]

I mean, everyone but Pete, quote, nobody ever said anything about how he smoked five packs of cigarettes a day and was 65 pounds overweight. I don't think it had anything to do with me, but, hey, he's the one who started the investigation.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You gotta. Dude, by the way. By the way, you're so right to be, like, five packs of cigarettes a day. However. Funny. Read the fucking room. The guy just died. What are you doing?

[Dave Anthony]

I didn't kill him. He's fatty. Smokes.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He's a fat cancer boy.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. No, you. This is such a great example of why all these athletes have PR now.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah. And it is like. I mean, that is what you think about, is, like, the level of sanitization that these athletes now go through.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

They are. Social media, all that. They're unable to. So much of it is about, like. That's what made the Harrison Butker shit, where he was, like, giving that commencement address where he's like, women stay in the kitchen. That's what makes your marriage strong. Don't be stupid. It was, like, so rare because you're like, holy shit.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But the amount of stuff that keeps coming out from, like, the Chiefs, where you're like, guys.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. Enough.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Wow.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

How's it going back in the 1300s? I mean, I don't know. I figured, like, we'd throw underwater and see if she's saying.

[Dave Anthony]

So. Now the IRS hits Pete on tax Evasion.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Another hit.

[Dave Anthony]

And he pleads guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns and was sentenced to five months in a white collar prison camp where he worked at the welding shop with another superstar criminal, John Gotti.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, man.

[Dave Anthony]

The facility had one tv. So Pete and the other inmates gathered.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's an HBO limited series.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Rose and Gotti.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, Pete kicked off. So they sit out and watch the Cincinnati Reds. A year after he was kicked off the team win the World Series. That had hurt.

[Gareth Reynolds]

When the hardest part was not to call you the bookie from the joint. He was like, oh, God.

[Dave Anthony]

So much money.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, my God.

[Dave Anthony]

When Pete was let out of prison, he still had to complete 1, 000 hours of community service. And he teach PE to underprivileged kids.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So the best thing to do, kids, is bet. Dodgeball is fun, but do you know how fun it is to bet on your team winning or kicking the shit out of another team? Mr. Rose.

[Dave Anthony]

Hold on, hold on now. On one of his first days, he called up his. He called up his son to grab a Big Mac at a nearby mall for his lunch break.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I bet you I can meet you in 15 minutes.

[Dave Anthony]

The McDonald's. He kept looking over his son's shoulder asking, quote, what's back there? Pete shook his head. Pete Jr. Shook his head no. What's back there? What is it, Pete Jr. Quote, dad, come on. You know what's back there. Batting cages. Oh. Pete walked past the 55, 65, 75 pages to the cages, to the 85 mile per hour fastball cage. And a crowd formed because Pete Rose was gonna do batting practice at the mall. He turns on the machine and the first pitch shot out like a cannon. And Pete smacked the out of it, hitting a laser. And then Pete turned to the crowd, quote, some things never change. And then he exited the cage and finished his big match back.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You know, I'd call it pathetic.

[Dave Anthony]

Just having your son along on that. You knew what you were going to do. You wanted your son to see it. Like, it's just all so pathetic. Yeah, it's so pathetic.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Performative.

[Dave Anthony]

And yeah, Pete being banned from baseball didn't mean he couldn't make the hall of Fame. Separate institutions, the hall didn't usually discriminate based on inductees, personal lives. As Pete loves to point out, the hall is full of drug abusers, cheaters, and wife beaters. So Pete should just waltz on it. First ballot, he should get put in.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's so cool that he's right.

[Dave Anthony]

He is right.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And that it's just. Is validating to just be like, yeah, it's full of a bunch of pieces of shit. What's one more. Yeah, good point, Pete.

[Dave Anthony]

But there should be. There should be. The hall of Fame should have a room.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

For Barry Bonds and Pete. And Pete Rose and all these guys who were. Yeah, yeah, why not? Why not have that? This is a room of what it's like when you're a. But great at baseball. Because otherwise you're just acting like that doesn't exist. And it does exist.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah. And I think it is so, like there is the argument, like there were no rules against. Like this was an undefined. It's like, look, there were guys who knew about the existence of these PEDs and didn't take them because they're like, yeah, it's fucking shitty. And then Barry Bonds, his head was a blimp.

[Dave Anthony]

But the thing about that is baseball encouraged them to take steroids.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, right.

[Dave Anthony]

So what are you going to do about that one? Barry Bond shouldn't. Shouldn't. Barry Bonds problem wasn't. They did steroids. Barry Bonds was a fucking asshole. And that's his biggest problem. He was a fucking piece of shit.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But you can't.

[Dave Anthony]

To other human beings.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But you can't. You in sports, you're not going to be able to not let someone in because of their personality. You know what I mean? Otherwise you'd be like, there's just three people in the hall of Fame.

[Dave Anthony]

But he's. He's rarefied. He's.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I don't know enough.

[Dave Anthony]

I'll tell you a story. There was a guy in Pittsburgh and he worked in the media room. And a guy. Some worker at the Pittsburgh Stadium died. And the guy was like, we need to raise money for his family. So when a big star would come through, he'd be like, hey, man, can you send a ball and a bat? We're going to auction it off for this guy's family. And when he went to Barry Bonds, he told them, so and so died. And we're doing this. And Barry Bonds looked at him and said, fuck you. And that guy who was said to be the nicest human being in the world and never said a bad word about anybody for the rest of his life. Anytime someone bought a Barry Bonds, he said, I hope Barry Bonds dies. That's how Barry Bonds affected people. He is a bad, bad person.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Wow.

[Dave Anthony]

And there's so many stories like that. I would hear them in San Francisco, like how much of a piece of shit he was. He was a terrible human Being. Anyway.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Nice head though.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, great head. Thick. So he should get it on the first ballot. Right. So you vote if you're getting in the hall of Fame. People vote, writers vote. And then usually there's. I think there's five ballots and then you're not. Or something like that. There's a. There's a number of times they can vote on you over the years and then you're. Then you're no longer eligible. Except there's another. There's one other option they can do, but. So they vote and first ballot, if you're really good, they make sure it's the first ballot.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right.

[Dave Anthony]

Ricky Anderson, your first ballot. Like guys like that. Pete should be based on what he did.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sure.

[Dave Anthony]

He's the hits leader. Yes. But everything changed the year before Pete was eligible when they added a rule banning anyone on MLB's ineligible list from being inducted into the hall of Fame. Clearly about Pete Rose.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I was going to say, I mean, obviously directed to him.

[Dave Anthony]

And reporters are now pissed. They're supposed to have the keys to the hall of Fame.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, you little one.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. They're such.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Those people are so like.

[Dave Anthony]

Excuse me, you're a right off. It shouldn't be done by reporters anyway.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, I agree.

[Dave Anthony]

Even the ones who would have voted against Pete were pissed. But Chinless Toad Man Faye Vincent believed it was Bart Giamatti's dying wish to keep Pete away from baseball forever. And he did everything he could to make sure it came true. Also, did I mention Pete is still gambling?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, the truth is, I mean, I'm shocked, but the truth is it's like in an addict's brain. It's like, well, now I can really.

[Dave Anthony]

Go, yeah, I'm not. Why stop now? Yeah, he needs money. He took gigs on sitcoms like Artless and Veronica's Closet. He played Ty Cob in. He played asshole Ty Cobb in a movie about Babe Ruth. He became a recurring character on ww, dressing up like the San Diego Chicken, receiving a choke slam, a tombstone pile driver, and enduring a 300 pound Samoan rubbing his ass in his face for a very long time.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Whoa.

[Dave Anthony]

WWE hall of Fame voters were less uptight and enshrined Pete in 2004.

[Gareth Reynolds]

They didn't know he was betting on it though.

[Dave Anthony]

2004 was also in. Pete, after 15 years, finally admitted to betting on baseball.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Dave Anthony]

By putting it in a tell all book.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Ah.

[Dave Anthony]

If Pete was going to come clean, he was going to make money doing it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yes.

[Dave Anthony]

Debuted on the New York Times bestseller list. Over the years, the veterans Committee of Hall of Fame, which was led by his friend and ex teammate Joe Morgan, tried to get Pete into the Hall. So they're trying really hard.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I remember, I mean, I remember that.

[Dave Anthony]

Being like it was a big thing.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, it was huge.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah. Yet. But every single time Pete did something to it up. Pete got a job on the Fox telecast of the World Series and managed to actually be likable enough to keep the gig. Until Pete heard a radio interview with the man whose investigation got Pete booted from baseball. John o' Dowd mentioned something that had been kept out of the report. He told the radio host that in his deposition with Pete's 19 year old memorabilia dealer, quote, he told us, you know, he not only ran bets, but ran young girls down at spring training, ages 12 to 14.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Holy.

[Dave Anthony]

Isn't that lovely? So that's statutory rape every time you do that.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Holy.

[Dave Anthony]

So this guy Dowd clearly hates him. And he sees that the tide is turning a little bit. People are starting to like Pete again. People are like, yeah, right. He's not the bad of a guy. He's got all these players coming out for him. And then he hits and he's just sitting there waiting for it. And he goes, when you're ready, I got this thing. And then as soon as he just at the right time, he drops a bomb. And that's your statutory rapist.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You know, it's just whenever you talk about a grown man sleeping with a 12 year old, it really does, I think publicly it affects the optics.

[Dave Anthony]

It's so gross.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That is, it's really up, like, oh, me? You just start to get the age at some. I mean, it's like not obviously not right, but 12 is so disgusting. 12 is ludicrous.

[Dave Anthony]

Oh, Jesus Christ. Instead of letting it go, keeping his lucrative job and becoming an A and liked figure in sports. So this was not an obscure radio.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Show he could have just ignored, affected.

[Dave Anthony]

Pete sued him for defamation.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, fuck me.

[Dave Anthony]

Now you're suing a fucking lawyer. An investigator. He's a prosecutor, so of course he has evidence. He had sworn testimony from a woman who claimed Pete slept with her when she was underage. What would have just been a little anecdote on the radio is now front page news on every sports site. Pete was fired from Fox. The Phillies scrap plans to honor him. He's back out.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's, it's that athlete mindset.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, it is.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Where they, they kind of are just like, I don't lose.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's like sometimes you're beat and not only Is it?

[Dave Anthony]

I don't lose. But they are raised to get away with everything.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Infallibility.

[Dave Anthony]

I'll never forget, like, Luis Suarez was a very good soccer player, but he, like, bit people, dude.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He was, like, a known biter.

[Dave Anthony]

And. And the only way you get like that is if you just are allowed to get away with everything, and then.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You'Re allowed to get away with it until one day you can, and then you can. Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

Still, Pete's old teammates and friends kept trying to get him and by, we say, biting people. He would bite defenders on the field.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, dude. He was, like, fully biting people. It didn't help that he looked like bat boy from the Weekly World News, but he was fully biting. It was like. People were like, he's biting people. Cameras got better. Eventually people were like, holy. He just bit the. Out of that guy.

[Dave Anthony]

Imagine how many times he bit people before he got there.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So many times when people like, God damn it. And people like, what are you doing? It's like, so I just bit my nipples. Like, guys, come on.

[Dave Anthony]

Still, Pete's old teammate and friends kept trying to get him back in baseball's good graces.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's also so.

[Dave Anthony]

Isn't it crazy? Isn't it crazy? Yeah, but that just. But that just goes to show, like. Like, how much that behavior was acceptable. Because remember, the famous Chris Collinsworth thing is he's like a rookie and he's being interviewed.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

He's like, in some. It's like he's being interviewed in a bar and he's like, you know, he likes him underage. Because it was common.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yes. Well, you know, we really had. We had a. Like, it's been framed as cancel culture, but it was just like, accountability time.

[Dave Anthony]

It's accountability.

[Gareth Reynolds]

There was, like, accountability time. And they're. They're the. But we really. Of all the terrible things that have happened in recent memory, it's that if you like the person, you want them to get away with it, and if you don't, then that's right. You know, you're. You're okay with someone being held accountable.

[Dave Anthony]

And that's on both sides.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, both sides. You have. You have to have just. You have this line where you just go, look, we don't accept shit bags.

[Dave Anthony]

We got when we have a rape.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But instead it just gets pushed as. Yep. You just go. I mean, the amount of times where you're just like, Donald Trump raped way more people than Bill Clinton. And you're like, how about this? Let's just do this. If you rape, you're out.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, you're out.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You're done.

[Dave Anthony]

That was the thing about when Hillary was running against Trump. Either way, you would have a rapist in the White House. It was either Trump the rapist or the first man the rapist.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, because Trump, I mean, Trump is. Look, Trump is like, Trump's. Trump is going to fucking hit in the balls. When Trump brought all those women to a press conference who Bill Clinton had sexually harassed or assaulted or whatever. I mean, that was effective. It was effective because there were skeletons in that closet. So, yeah, of course it's effective. Yes. And yeah. And then when you just have it now with, like, it. I mean, comedy is. Comedy is funny politics. It's just like, same if. Sorry, some of you are getting. Some of you are getting hit, and then others, you're going to be allowed to keep going. Yeah, just how it is. And that's okay. We sit. We just live in it still.

[Dave Anthony]

Pete's old teammates and friends kept trying to get him back in baseball's good graces. And in 2022, he was allowed to participate in a celebratory reunion of the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies Championship team. There, a young female reporter brought up these statutory rape charges to him. His response? Quote, that was 55 years ago, babe. I just. I just, I. Can you not. Yeah, and you know you can't because it's within your. It's in you.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's in. Yeah, it's in your.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, it's impossible if you're not chemically.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Made up like this.

[Dave Anthony]

When the AP followed up, he quipped, quote, who cares what happened 50 years ago? You weren't even.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I know, dad.

[Dave Anthony]

So you shouldn't be talking about it because you weren't born. They're not gonna believe this. This wasn't received well.

[Gareth Reynolds]

By whom?

[Dave Anthony]

I mean, we're talking about middle. The Me too movement, right. 20, 22.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, but still, I mean, he's so charming. He can hit a ball.

[Dave Anthony]

Any growing momentum to get Pete in the hall of Fame was over. So Pete did what any person who needs money does.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'll bet you a hundred thousand dollars I don't get into the hall of Fame.

[Dave Anthony]

He moved to Las Vegas.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh.

[Dave Anthony]

Very signed memory memorabilia for a living. Anything people brought for five hours a day, for 15 days a month, he's ojing. Yeah, Pete did this until he died. He signed balls with his name, the hit king 404,192. But also, I didn't do steroids. What if he's saying, yeah, he's like I'm not as bad as those guys.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, he, that lane is left open, but it's an angle. Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

I was the first man on the moon, and I'm sorry I shot jfk.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, so he's being what? He's like, just like, I'm the victim of all these crimes that I did.

[Dave Anthony]

Oh, did I really do anything bad? Yeah, dude. Stationary rape, it turns out. It's really horrifying.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah. But to be fair, that was 55 years ago.

[Dave Anthony]

One of his best sellers, Sorry, I Bet on Baseball, which you can buy on ebay right now for about $350. Wow. Pete Rose represents the true heart of America. Oversell what little talent you have, lie as much as you possibly can, and if you ever get in trouble, monetize it. He died last year. Yeah. Who cares? He had a daughter on Melrose Place.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, really?

[Dave Anthony]

I looked her up and then, and then she vanishes. I looked her up to see her career. She's on. She's an actress. Actress. And then she's just gone in like around 2004 or something, I think. When I feel like she didn't want to be in public at some point. Sources. Charlie Hustle, the Rise and Fall of Pete Rose and the Last Glory Days of Baseball by Keith o' Brien. Charlie Hustle and the Matter of Pete Rose by Mark Monroe. The Hit King, Pete Rose in Purgatory by Scott Rab, baseballreverence.com and research by Josh Androsk.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You know what I always remember is, is I remember why I, I, I never watched a lot of baseball, but when Jim Gray asked him a question during, like, an All Star Game, and it was like, it was he. Jim Gray, like, asks him, like, Jim Gray, congratulations. It was my novation mar. Pete, let me ask you. Now, it seems as though that there is an opening.

[Dave Anthony]

The American public is very forgiving.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Are you willing to show contrition, admit that you bet on baseball and make some sort of an apology to that effect?

[Dave Anthony]

Not at all, Jim.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Not at all. I'm not gonna admit something that happened. I know you get hard to hear me say that, but I appreciate the ovation. I appreciate the American fans voting me on that all century team. And I'm just a small part of a big deal night. With the overwhelming evidence in that report. Why not make that step with the festive night to worry about that? I mean, I don't want to have it.

[Dave Anthony]

You're talking about.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Show it to me. We don't want to make that.

[Dave Anthony]

Well, why not? Why don't we?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Why we want to believe everything he says. He signed a paper acknowledging the ban. Why did you sign it if you didn't agree? It also says I can apply for reinstatement for one year.

[Dave Anthony]

You remember press conference, matter of fact.

[Gareth Reynolds]

My statement was, I can't wait for my little girl to be a year old so I can apply for reinstatement at my press conference. So you forgot to end that call. If it was in there. Well, you have reapplied. You have applied for reinstatement in 1997. Have you heard back from Commissioner Seek?

[Dave Anthony]

No.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And that kind of surprises me. It's only been two years though.

[Dave Anthony]

He's got a lot of things on his mind, but I hope to someday.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He has been 10 years that you've.

[Dave Anthony]

Been allowed on the field. Obviously the approach that you have taken has not worked.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Why not at this point take a different approach? Well, when you say it hadn't worked, what do you exactly mean? You're not allowed in baseball. You're not allowed to earn a living in the game you love and you're not allowed to be in the hall of Fame. He just, he keeps hammering him. And I remember after that everyone was like, what the is Jim Gray's problem?

[Dave Anthony]

Right?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Like, it was like so much of it was just like, Jim Gray is such a fucking asshole job. Yeah. And Jim Gray is a dislikable piece of shit. Like he's done a lot of stupid shit. He's fucking annoying. But I like, I had a bias against Jim Gray for so long because I was just like, he see, Pete Rose seemed like nice and Jim Gray seemed like a prick.

[Dave Anthony]

Now, you know, I, Pete Gray, Jim justifiably. Jim Gray justifiably hated Pete Rose. Yeah, justifiably.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And he's hammering him at the moment. He gets.

[Dave Anthony]

Because like the news, I mean, first of all, that news about the 12 and 14 year old girls thing that dropped like that was in the middle of all these guys having it dropped on them.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

You know, like that was like the. Me too was like it was coming from every.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

So you can get lost in that a little bit.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, you know, it was, you know that it just, it, it is, it is just so up. And this just ha. This is basically the history of America to some extent is you have these moments. It feels like there's a cultural shift and as soon as there's an opportunity to weaponize it against the movement that happens, momentum stops and there's some sort of counterculture against it. And we're in this phase now where it's like, you could not be more in the. The tide is going back in the other direction of even the modest gains we made. It doesn't, it doesn't feel like it matters anymore.

[Dave Anthony]

That's why there's re education camps when leftists take over. Yeah, it's true. Like, you're like, what do I do with you?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you really are just like, what the. Like, I don't know. I mean. Yeah, well, what a despicable piece of. And there we go.

[Dave Anthony]

Here we go. Pete Rose, all time hit king of Major League Baseball. So a lot has happened in the two weeks since we recorded.

[Gareth Reynolds]

This episode isn't done. Go ahead. I'm sorry.

[Dave Anthony]

It's been two weeks since we recorded and a lot has happened. One of the reasons that I did choose now to do it was because I knew that Trump was pushing for Pete Rose to be reinstated into baseball. And I also saw how MLB was immediately caving on that. So I thought it might happen. And what do you know?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, I think you, as usual, have a good eye towards that stuff. But it is, the timing is. Did you think it was going to be happening that quickly?

[Dave Anthony]

No, no. But I knew it would. It would. I thought it would take a little bit longer. I thought baseball wouldn't you like, just roll over that fast? But, you know, they're all pathetic. And they did.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So he just got reinstated.

[Dave Anthony]

Yes. He's not in the hall of Fame, but he's reinstated.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He's going to be in the hall of Fame now.

[Dave Anthony]

He can be, but not necessarily because the writers still have to vote. And remember, the writers, like, haven't voted for some of the greatest players ever because they took steroids back when baseball wanted them to take steroids.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I actually believe one of the bigger reasons why they can't get them into hall of Fame and they won't elect them is because the busts would take up so much room because those heads, big heads, got so big during the Roy era. Also, what color would Sammy Sosa's bust be?

[Dave Anthony]

That is hard to know over time. It could over time start to fade.

[Gareth Reynolds]

If they found a way, they found a material where Sammy Sosa can slowly blanch.

[Dave Anthony]

So, yeah, so, and look, I, like I've said this, I think I said on the podcast, but you know, I think that all players should be in the hall of Fame who are good enough. And then you put on there, you put on their plaque how the bad things they did that. It makes no Sense to have a Hall of Fame without the best players in it just because they're bad guys. It's the hall of Fame. It's not the Good guy Fame.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

Walk of.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Not the best character studs. What's up?

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, so. So, yeah, so that's. That's my feeling on it. Like. Like, Barry Bonds is just like, a notorious piece of. And he should be in the hall of Fame.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Does he get a dollar?

[Dave Anthony]

It's steroids. And it's like, yeah, he might get a dollop. But, but, but, like, you know, all these guys throughout baseball have done drugs and been racist. And like, there' people in the hall of Fame. So it's really hard.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dave Anthony]

And people. And people say, like, well, this one's about betting. Okay, so let's take that argument. So we don't allow people who bet on baseball in the hall of Fame. So we kick them out of baseball. So let's say there's the best player in baseball and he's in a betting scandal. We already heard how baseball. The first time Pete Rose got caught, they covered it up. So let's say the best baseball players hits tons of home runs, pitches. Let's say he's caught in a betting scandal. Does baseball want that investigation to just happen and figure out what the truth is, or does baseball want to hide it? So that's what happens when you take a thing like this and say he's out of baseball. Well, now you're talking about fucking money. And if there's a really big player.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It'S so similar to this country's. This country's inability to actually want truth. Just doesn't want it. Doesn't want it.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Thinks it gets in the way. Thinks it makes us feel bad. So we're not going to do it.

[Dave Anthony]

I mean, it's a. It's a really. It's a really sort of tough position to be in because you shouldn't be allowed to bet on baseball, as we talked about in the thing. But also, like, like, if a guy is betting on baseball and he's judge or Ohtani or whatever, he is one of the big guys, they're gonna fucking cover that shit up. Yeah, they're gonna cover it up.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, they. Do they.

[Dave Anthony]

So, you know, that's. I mean, that's. That's where I'm at. I'm out with it. Like. Yeah, so whatever. He's reinstated.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay, he's reinstated. Well, speaking of your prescient nature, we should just quickly allude to the fact this was Preston's Idea that we made a joke about Kristi Noem and Trump coming up with a show where you really. You made. You. You basically said that this show is going to happen where it's going to be five families to see who can get citizenship. And from your lips to the production company of the guys who did Duck Dynasties Ears. Because now there is actually this idea of a reality show about get your citizenship for families that are not. Do not have legal status.

[Dave Anthony]

DHS is now denying it. But, like, it's so funny to me. Like, oh, now we're gonna believe dhs. Like, yeah, this seems obvious that they do it. Not personally. I think it was Christine Ohm who pitched it. Like, I don't think it was dhs. I think it was just her on her own.

[Gareth Reynolds]

She's cosplaying. She's cosplaying all over Instagram.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, yeah. It's all about fame for her and, like, getting out in front. She probably wants to host it and everything else.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So, yeah, can't get over the fact that Kristi Gnome shot her puppy. Just Cricket's gone. Cricket's gone. And now just kill the dog. Killed the dog. She killed the dog. She killed her own dog.

[Dave Anthony]

There's a goat, too.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And a goat as well.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

She killed the dog and a goat.

[Dave Anthony]

And she's like, that's what we do on a farm. And all the farmers are like, I.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Do it a hundred times out of a hundred times. We'll keep this woman away from dogs. And now she's in charge. She's. She's got our ethical standard of what to do with fake criminality.

[Dave Anthony]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Anyway, we're excited for that show. So anyway, there you go, everybody. Enjoy everything. Pete Rose is gonna be in the hall of fame, probably. And Kristi Gnome, known, admitted killer of Cricket the Dog and a goat, is running the secure. Oh, my God. Hey, what's up there? Gear forest and doll heads, this is Gareth. Listen, I'm gonna be on the road doing some standup comedy. And boy, howdy, would I love for you you to come see me. Go to garethreynolds.com for tickets and information. I just added shows. Batavia or Batavia, Illinois, May 22. May 23. May 24. Then I will be in Nashville on August 5. I will be in Lexington, Kentucky, August 6. Chattanooga, August 8. August 9. Then I will be in Fort Collins at the Comedy Fort. August 22nd. August 23rd. Then to Sweet Bozeman, Montana, September 5th. 5th. September 6th. Then I'll be in Kansas City at the Comedy Club of Kansas. September 26, September 27, October 4 Chicago. A couple shows there, then Sunnyvale. November 6, November 7, November 8. Go to GarethReynolds.com for tickets and information. You are my gear force. You are doll heads. I love you gear thrills dot com.