Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 26, 1990 TAG: 9007260332
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Eighty-one percent in a national Rose Associated Press poll said it was right for Rose, baseball's all-time hit leader, to be sentenced to federal prison last week for failing to report $350,000 in income. He got five months.
But respondents went easier on Rose in relation to baseball: Fifty-six percent said he had not harmed the game's image, and among those who said he had hurt baseball, only about a third said the damage was serious.
Nearly two-thirds overall said Rose, ex-manager of the Cincinnati Reds, should be allowed to work in baseball again. He was banished from the sport for gambling, but can apply for reinstatement.
Despite the banishment and his felony conviction, two-thirds said Rose, 49, should be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He amassed 4,256 hits, the record, in 24 years of playing.
Rose becomes eligible in December 1991 for election by sports writers to the Hall of Fame.
The poll did not specify an election date for Rose, asking only if he should be named to it "at some point." Baseball fans were a bit more likely than non-fans to favor Rose for the hall, 71 to 63 percent, and men were more supportive than women, 74 to 62 percent.
Women were slightly more apt than men to say Rose had damaged baseball's image, 43 to 36 percent. But men were somewhat harder on Rose in other areas: Eighty-five percent said he deserved jail time, compared with 78 percent of the women. And while 67 percent of the women said Rose should be allowed back into baseball, only 59 percent of the men did.
The telephone survey of 1,004 adults was conducted for the AP from Friday through Tuesday by ICR Survey Research Group of Media, Pa., part of AUS Consultant Cos. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
by CNB