By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies coaching staff isn't one to hide their opinions. Manager Pete Mackanin, sometimes to a fault, is very honest with the media. New hitting coach Matt Stairs suggested earlier this spring that he believes Maikel Franco has similar upside to former MVP Miguel Tejada. And bench coach Larry Bowa, well, you know.
The coaching staff temporarily gained another person who isn't afraid to speak is mind Friday, when Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt reported to spend the next week as a guest instructor.
Schmidt spoke to the collective media, including Ryan Lawrene of Philly Voice, on a variety of topics, including his former teammate Pete Rose. Schmidt conceded that Rose probably won't end up in the Hall of Fame, but did bring up the often discussed case of why players connected to performance-enhancing drugs are given a chance to be on the ballot but Rose isn't:
“I guess the big argument to conclude that particular subject is equating what Pete did to what the guys associated with PEDs did,” Schmidt said in a session with Philadelphia media members on Friday. “The PED guys have been given some level of forgiveness, depending on which guy you point to, why isn’t Pete given the same level of forgiveness?”
The "PED guys," to a degree, have been given a level of forgiveness. Ivan Rodriguez was voted into the Hall of Fame this year, despite the fact that he was named in Jose Canseco's 2005 book "Juiced" as a PED user. There seems to be a culture of writers who are willing to vote for those who didn't actually fail a test, but punishing those who actually failed tests. That doesn't make much sense, but that's another topic for another day.
Some would suggest that Rose should be given a chance to be on the ballot, like the PED users were. That doesn't mean he would be guaranteed induction, but he would at least be given a chance. Others would suggest that PEDs and betting on baseball or apples and oranges or that two wrongs don't make a right.
Another topic that those in favor of Rose being in the Hall of Fame have suggested is that Rose shouldn't be banned from the Hall of Fame as a player if he bet on games only as a manager. However, that argument became more complicated in 2015 when ESPN's Outside the Lines got access to documents that suggested that Rose bet on games as a player late in his career.
Schmidt's argument for forgiveness, especially nearly 30 years later, may have some valid points. But for the foreseeable future, Rose seems as likely to get on the Hall of Fame ballot as LeBron James is to get a chance to play against Michael Jordan in his prime.
Rose is reportedly leading the Phillies Wall of Fame voting, so Schmidt is likely to see Rose join the club's Wall of Fame this summer. Even a few years ago, the MLB allowing Rose to be inducted into a team's Wall of Fame, which involves him stepping foot in a Major League park, seemed unlikely to ever happen. Perhaps someday we'll say that about Rose as he's set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
