HBO’s new four-part, four-hour documentary on Pete Rose reveals little new but is nonetheless provocative. That’s because Pete Rose is provocative. He’s everyman, a monument to hard work maximizing skill. If you don’t believe that, ask Rose. He’ll tell you. His ban from MLB for betting on baseball is something that’s understood yet questioned. What Rose did was wrong. But maybe you’d do it. Rose says he only bet on his own team. That’s hard to believe. A junkie gambler uses every tool at his disposal. Did Rose, as a manager, throw games? Did he exhaust his resources when he bet on his own team, leaving it vulnerable for subsequent games? Who did Rose bet on in those games? Such questions never will be answered. Heck, it took Rose 15 years after his ban to admit he bet on baseball. He only did it then to hawk a book. Rose, now a feeble 83, didn’t have editorial control over HBO’s "Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose.” It isn’t flattering, often using photos, video and audio to catch Rose in outright lies. But Rose is interviewed extensively. He says a lot of things many people won’t like. His sexism, crudeness and ego are on display. But Rose gets to talk a lot. If he’s allowed to do that, many of those listening will wind up liking him. He’s got charisma and is adept at bending the facts to suit his purpose. You can tell Rose believes his own lies. He thinks that’s how it actually occurred. It’s always somebody else’s fault. He got caught. Others didn’t. But everything bad that happened to Rose was of his own doing. He wasn’t a victim, though people occasionally piled on. The Chicago Tribune calls the documentary "a searching look for one man’s conscience.” They didn’t find it. That said, maybe it’s time to lighten up in the matter of Pete Rose. Sports are in thrall to legalized big-time gambling, absolutely enslaved by it. It sponsors everything and is plastered everywhere, not least when it comes to baseball. Rose is MLB’s all-time hit leader. The Baseball Hall of Fame is a joke because of who’s not in it. A lineup composed of players ineligible for the Hall of Fame (or shadow-banned) might beat a starting nine composed of those actually enshrined: Rose, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Roger Clemens, etc. (That sounds like something to be settled via APBA or Strat-O-Matic.) Rose is too old to manage again. Would putting him in the Hall of Fame be so terrible? I hate indefinite suspensions. They’re not fair. You don’t know what you’re up against. Rose’s "lifetime ban” allowed for him to appeal for reinstatement after one year. MLB had no intention of ever considering that. But dangling that carrot suckered Rose. It placated him. Commissioner Bart Giamatti pulled a double-cross immediately after suspending Rose. The terms of Rose’s ban pointedly did not find that Rose bet on baseball. That was negotiated. But, talking to reporters about the suspension, Giamatti said he was personally convinced Rose bet on baseball. Rose lied. But so did Giamatti. Giamatti died of a heart attack eight days after suspending Rose. That instantly gave Rose’s expulsion an air of finality. I think Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. But I absolutely understand that he’s not. Such is the tangled web of Rose. Pete Rose is definitely guilty of being Pete Rose. 24/7/365, even at 83. HBO surely proved that. Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free. Get Ad-Free > Sign Up for NotificationsStay up-to-date on important news from TribLIVE