I've written about Pete Rose and the Hall of Fame so many times already, and I'm not going to do it again today. Sorta pointless, since my opinion's been the same for so long. There's a tremendous new biography, by the way. Didn't change my mind.
Here's something, though: Some oddsmakers have published Pete-Rose-Hall-of-Fame odds ...
Pete Rose reinstated by Rob Manfred
Odds: 8/1
Pete Rose reinstated by Bud Selig
Odds: 40/1
I just finished Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood, Mark Harris's great book about 1967's five Best Picture nominees, including The Graduate, which was directed by Mike Nichols.
The Graduate was Nichols' second film. His first was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Harris:
The day he started production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Nichols finished one of his first shots, and a first assistant director sauntered by him, muttering, "Oh, well -- it's just another picture." Nichols fired him on the spot. "I had to prove I was going to be strong," he said later.
I don't know if Rob Manfred needs to prove anything at this point. But I would like to see him show he's more than just Commissioner Bud's favorite candidate. And somehow getting Charlie Hustle off the You're Dead to Me list would certainly do that, dramatically.
