As I walked past the brilliant Ted Williams statue in the lobby of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown I began to feel The Presence. I was in the presence of baseball greatness.

That statue was sculpted by the great Armond LaMontagne, and, years ago, I once had the pleasure of sitting in his studio in North Scituate, Rhode Island, to watch him work. He told me how much fun he had with Williams. LaMontagne refers to himself as a caveman, a most talented caveman, because he works with his hands. Williams and the artist were two tough guys who hit it off.

Williams was not present at the time I was there, but LaMontagne was creating a sculpture of Williams’ fishing. To watch him work with basically a hammer and chisel as he carved wood into life was stunning. LaMontagne had just finished a statue of Larry Bird and having been in the same locker room with Bird many, many times, I thought the real Bird was standing with us.

The Great Ones, whether they are baseball players, or artists, stand out.

Williams, in my mind, was the best hitter who ever lived. His statue and his place in the Hall of Fame are well deserved.

All this brings me to Pete Rose. Rose has the most hits in baseball history. Rose has made plenty of mistakes but as far as we know, did not chemically alter his body. His betting on baseball and his team (every night, he’s telling us now) were not good things, but it does not change the fact that he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

Rose is not the sharpest tool in the shed. I remember sitting and talking to him in his office at Riverfront Stadium, at the time, he was asking lots of questions about the team I covered, so, looking back, he probably had not yet placed his bet that night.

He then started to tell a story about his days in high school, then stopped himself, and said, “Was that the first time or the second time I was in 10th grade?’’

Pete Rose failed at many things most of us have succeeded in but there is no denying his passion for the game and his ability to get base hits, made him stand out from the rest of the world. On his stat page at Baseball-reference.com, there is this quote from Rose: “I’d walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball.”

Rose doesn’t deserve to have a statue in the Hall of Fame, like Ted Williams, but he does deserve a plaque, listing his accomplishments and his 4,256 hits.

The plaque should also point out he bet on his team, every night.