Pete Rose

            The road to becoming a Major League Baseball player is probably the hardest journey of any of the major sports in America. It is not uncommon to hear of football players being drafted into the National Football League after playing only two or three years of Collegiate level football, or a basketball player playing in the National Basketball Association straight out of high school. Often golfers or tennis players begin playing at a professional level between the ages of fourteen to seventeen. Conversely, becoming a professional baseball player requires such immense refinement and practice that it may take over ten years of amateur competition before one is even considered for recruitment. An aspiring baseball player must compete and excel at both the high school and college level before he is eligible to play in a three tier amateur division of Major League Baseball called the Minor League. After performing well enough in each level to be promoted to the highest level of the Minor League, then he may be chosen to be donned a member of Major League Baseball.
             After taking into account all of these obstacles, it is obvious why being elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame is such a distinguished honor. The Hall of Fame was opened in 1939 and the first twenty-five members were inducted on June 12 of that year. Since then two hundred and fifty-six people have been inducted including players, executives, managers and umpires (www.baseballhalloffame.org). Men have dedicated their whole lives to the sport of baseball ultimately to achieve membership in this illustrious club. .
             Pete Rose is one of the men who have whole-heartedly devoted themselves to the game they love. Unfortunately, he may never be rewarded with the honor of being a member of the Hall of Fame. Peter Edward Rose started out like many other young men with aspirations of being a professional baseball player.