August 24

On this day in 1989, Pete Rose was banned from baseball for gambling.  This has always struck me as kind of strange.  It was my understanding that he never gambled as a player and only admitted to gambing ON his team as a manager.  I'm not entirely sure why he is therefore banned from baseball.  I suppose it is a fine line to walk between betting on and against, but that's basically what managers do every night.  What do you suppose happens if they start losing?  They are fired.  If they win?  They'll likely get a raise.  If Rose had bet against the Reds, and managed to make them lose somehow, 1) it would probably be pretty obvious, and 2) he would essentially be shooting himself in the foot unless this were a monumental bet.  In the end, he is certainly a baseball great, who may have made poor decisions.  He certainly wouldn't be the worst guy to enter the Hall of Fame.

What do you think?  Betting as a manager ok or not?