It's been over a year since Pete Rose met with baseball commissioner Bud Selig and admitted to betting on baseball. So why didn't Rose come out soon after that meeting and tell the public that he lied, that he was wrong and that he would seek help. That approach would have created a far more sympathetic view of Rose and his bid to have lifted his lifetime ban from the sport than what he has done now -- which is to accept a lucrative advance from a publisher to make his admission in a book.

A SELF-SERVING MOTIVE
In the short-term what Rose has done is a good move for his wallet, but in the end, it could backfire on him.

My feeling is he has hurt himself more than he has helped himself.

By choosing to make his admission of betting on baseball in a book and thereby making money off of it, I believe Rose hurt his chances of being reinstated by the commissioner.

To truly help his efforts to get back into baseball, Rose should have followed the advice of his former teammate on the Reds, Joe Morgan, who has been encouraging Rose for at least a decade to make a statement admitting he bet on baseball, express remorse for doing that and seek help for his gambling habit.

Instead Rose waited 14 years to come clean over his betting, not apologizing for his actions nor admitting to the seriousness and the damage his betting did to the game.

Selig cannot be happy with the way Rose chose to make his admission. To me, this is another case of Rose selling himself out for money. And the commissioner must also be upset over Rose's timing since his confession overshadowed the announcement of the Hall of Fame election of Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley on Jan. 6.

TIME RUNNING OUT ON ROSE
It's clear that Rose's decision to admit to betting on baseball now is an attempt to accelerate action by the commissioner to remove him from baseball's permanently ineligible list, that because after a rule change in 1991, anyone on that list is ineligible for the Hall of Fame.

Pete Rose saga NBC's Robinson: Another hustle Borges: Baseball must end grudge Celizic: Pete only making it worse Weiner: Sack Selig Reader reactions

The best chance Rose has of being elected to the Hall of Fame is through voting by the baseball writers, but time is growing short on that front.

Rose needs to be reinstated within the next two years or he will miss his chance at being elected to baseball's shrine by the writers since players can be only be on the writers' ballot beginning five years after their careers end until 15 years later.

That leaves Rose two more shots at making it on to the writers' ballot: this December and  December of 2005.

If he's left off the ballot both those years, his only chance at making the Hall of Fame will be by election of the veterans committee, which includes all living Hall of Famers and also winners of the annual awards for contributions to writing and broadcasting.

There are enough living Hall of Famers who played through the aftermath of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. That was an era where baseball was recovering from the credibility hit it took when members of the Chicago White Sox conspired to lose to the Reds in the World Series.

These Hall of Famers helped rebuild the game and they more than anyone understand the seriousness of the no gambling edict. Thus for them, the crime Rose committed is one that cannot be forgiven.

Hence to me there is no way Rose would ever be voted into the Hall of Fame by the veteran's committee.

LOSING SOME SUPPORT?
Disillusioned by the manner in which Rose has conducted his business this past week, some baseball writers might very well be having serious second thoughts over voting Rose into the Hall of Fame -- should he become eligible.

Before the events leading to Rose's confession unfolded, if you had asked me whether Rose would get the 75 percent of the writers' vote needed for election to the Hall of Fame, I would have said yes -- without a doubt. Now, I'm not so sure of that.

I believe Rose has taken a tremendous hit since his method of coming clean has the distinct look of opportunism.

SELIG'S PREDICAMENT
There is the court of public opinion, which clearly has been on Rose's side. I think the majority of baseball fans don't care whether Rose gets to manage again, but they do seem to think he should be in the Hall of Fame.

Therefore Selig could be striving for a solution that allows Rose -- in some way -- to be eligible for election to the Hall of Fame, but doesn't allow him back in uniform, especially managing a team after he has admitted to betting on baseball.

I don't know how you would allow someone who has confessed to gambling on his own team to ever again be involved in the game?

If I were commissioner, I wouldn't allow Rose to be a manager again and if he were eligible to return to work in the sport and I owned a team, there's no way I would hire him.

Although Selig is the master of compromise, he's very, very concerned with baseball's public face. And in my opinion, Rose should never again be allowed to accept a position where his decisions could affect the outcome of baseball games.

MORE FROM BASEBALL

Baseball Section Front

Rusty Ramirez hitless in Dodgers’ victory Manny apologizes to fans, teammates MLB blog: L.A. Times wants you to hate Manny Clemens reportedly didn’t test positive in 2003 Yankees beat Blue Jays for 8th win in 9 games M’s get a little help, bounce Red Sox in 11 Three-run 16th gives Tigers victory over Twins Twins' Slowey placed on DL with strained wrist Bases loaded walk gives Cubs win Lopez sparkles for Phils in first outing since '07 Baseball Section Front   Add Baseball headlines to your news reader: