Bah! I don’t feel sorry for Petey. He deserved to be banned. He knew the rules. He knew the consequences of breaking them. He still bet on baseball, including Reds’ games.
Then he lied about it. Repeatedly. For years. And to say he didn’t tarnish the game is hogwash.
After all the lies, he finally changed his stories and said his bets didn’t really matter because he never bet for the Reds to lose. Even if you’re naive enough to believe Petey never bet against the Reds, he still rigged games. As manager he chose who played when.