Pete Rose has no use for MLB’s concussion protocol, questions Josh Donaldson’s toughness

Pete Rose doesn’t appear to be a fan of Major League Baseball’s concussion protocol. Following the Toronto Blue Jays’ 5-3 loss to the Texas Rangers in Game 1 of the American League Division Series Thursday, Rose had some harsh words for Toronto MVP candidate Josh Donaldson on FS1’s post-game show. Donaldson left the game ahead of the sixth inning following a knee to his head on a slide in the fourth inning, and was put through MLB’s concussion protocol. Rose, who’s working as a baseball analyst for Fox these days, questioned the exit of Donaldson (and other injured players Jose Bautista and Adrian Beltre). Here’s video of Rose’s comment:

And here’s a transcription of Rose’s complete quote, via Big League Stew:

Here’s Pete Rose’s complete quote calling out #BlueJays Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista for leaving Game 1. pic.twitter.com/TlhKCqceSb

— Yahoo Sports MLB (@MLByahoosports) October 8, 2015

That’s quite the take from Rose, and it shows one of the perils in having him as an analyst. Plenty of former players haven’t exactly been shining examples in discussion of concussions, but at least many of the ones who played more recently seem to be a little more in tune with the reality of today’s sports world and what we now know about concussions. Trying to pass them off as simple “lightheadness” shows Rose is a relic of his time, and the reaction from the rest of the panel when Rose said this was telling; in particular, host Kevin Burkhardt attempted to explain that it wasn’t really Donaldson’s call, but Rose wasn’t having it).

Rose is right that it was substantially different when he played, as there was hardly any talk about concussions in the 60s, 70s and 80s. That doesn’t mean those standards can be applied to today’s game, though, or that it’s fair to criticize Donaldson in particular for leaving the game here. Indeed, the bigger question may be why Donaldson was sent back out there for an inning when he appeared to be dazed and struggling defensively (as FS1 analyst Tom Verducci noted). Despite what Pete Rose thinks, the MLB concussion protocol is here to stay; the larger question may be if it’s going far enough and kicking in fast enough.