] "I should have had the opportunity to get help, but
] baseball had no fancy rehab for gamblers like they do for
] drug addicts," Rose wrote. "If I had admitted my guilt,
] it would have been the same as putting my head on the
] chopping block -- lifetime ban. Death penalty. I spent my
] entire life on the baseball fields of America, and I was
] not going to give up my profession without first seeing
] some hard evidence. ... Right or wrong, the punishment
] didn't fit the crime -- so I denied the crime."

One of the greatest men in the history of the sport may finally now get the recognition he deserves.

SI.com - MLB - Rose admits to betting on baseball - Monday January 5, 2004 8:49AM