Pete Rose was posthumously removed from Major League Baseball\u2019s permanently ineligible list Tuesday, making the all-time hits leader eligible for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
\n\u201cShoeless\u201d Joe Jackson, banned after his participation in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, also was reinstated in a sweeping decision by commissioner Rob Manfred that included other deceased players from the list. All are eligible for election to the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
An MLB statement released Tuesday referred to it as a \u201cpolicy decision.\u201d
\n\u201cThis issue has never been formally addressed by Major League Baseball, but an application filed by the family of Pete Rose has made it incumbent upon the Office of the Commissioner to reach a policy decision on this unprecedented issue in the modern era as Mr. Rose is the first person banned after the tenure of commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis to die while still on the ineligible list.
\n\u201cCommissioner Manfred has concluded that MLB\u2019s policy shall be that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rose had been exiled from the sport since 1989, after he was found by then-commissioner Bart Giamatti (yes, the father of actor Paul Giamatti) to have been betting on his team\u2019s games while he was manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Rose died Sept. 30, 2024, at the age of 83.
\nRose\u2019s daughter, Fawn Rose, filed a petition for reinstatement Jan. 8 and met with Manfred. In February, President Trump advocated for the lifetime ban to be lifted in a social media post, then met with Manfred in April to discuss the matter.
\nJeffrey Lenkov, a Los Angeles lawyer who represented Rose at the time of his death and prepared the petition pro bono, told The Times the decision was the result of several years of working with Manfred and his executive team.
\n\u201cThe Rose family and I are extremely overjoyed,\u201d Lenkov said. \u201cThe reinstatement in and of itself is a historic moment because many people, including Pete at times, thought the ban would never be lifted.
\n\u201cGetting into the Hall of Fame on his merits is an opportunity he wanted and should be able to receive now.\u201d
\nCincinnati Reds player-manager Pete Rose hits a line drive single to break Ty Cobb\u2019s all-time hits record in 1985.
\n(Associated Press)
\nFrom his 24-year career that resulted in more MLB hits \u2014 4,256 hits \u2014 than any other player in history to his lifetime ban, Rose\u2019s saga was as complex and sad as it was triumphant. Pete Rose Night will take place Wednesday at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, and the decision to lift the ban undoubtedly will elevate the mood.<\/p>\n
No. Barring an unforeseen exception, the earliest Rose could be considered for induction would be the summer of 2028. The committee that could vote him into the hall \u2014 the Classic Baseball Era Committee \u2014 doesn\u2019t convene until December 2027.
\nRose is not eligible to be voted in by the Baseball Writers Assn. of America because its ballot includes only candidates whose playing careers ended no more than 15 years prior to the election. Rose retired in 1986. In 1991, two years after Rose was banned from baseball and months before he was set to make the ballot \u2014 players become eligible for consideration five years after they retire \u2014 the hall\u2019s board of directors passed a rule prohibiting anybody on the ineligible list from being a candidate.
\nHall of Fame chair Jane Forbes Clark issued a statement making it clear Rose, Jackson and the others are eligible for induction.
\n\u201cThe National Baseball Hall of Fame has always maintained that anyone removed from Baseball\u2019s permanently ineligible list will become eligible for Hall of Fame consideration,\u201d the statement said. \u201cMajor League Baseball\u2019s decision to remove deceased individuals from the permanently ineligible list will allow for the Hall of Fame candidacy of such individuals to now be considered.\u201d
\nNow that Rose is eligible, his case will be reviewed by the 16-member Classic Baseball Era Committee which evaluates players who made their greatest impact before 1980. Rose would qualify for consideration because his 24-year career began in 1963.
\nThe committee voted in Dick Allen and Dave Parker this year. When it convenes again to vote for 2028 induction, Rose would need the backing of an aye from a 75% majority \u2014 12 of the 16 members. <\/p>\n
Since before the 1919 Black Sox Scandal resulted in Jackson and other players being banned for life for taking money from gamblers and throwing games, Major League Baseball has had a rule against gambling to protect the integrity of the game. Rule 21(d) is posted in every clubhouse and states: \u201cAny player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.\u201d
\nRose bet on the Cincinnati Reds when he was the team\u2019s player-manager in 1985 and \u201886, and the manager in \u201987. An MLB investigation headed by lawyer John Dowd resulted in a 225-page report released in 1989 that named men that Rose allegedly placed bets with and cited evidence that Rose bet on Reds games.
\nCincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose before a spring training game March 22, 1989, after the Commissioner\u2019s Office investigation into his gambling was released.
\n(John Swart \/ Associated Press)
\nAfter denying for nearly 15 years that he bet on baseball, Rose admitted doing so in his 2004 book, \u201cMy Prison Without Bars,\u201d written with Rick Hill. Later, he would sign and sell baseballs with the inscription, \u201cSorry I bet on baseball.\u201d The balls currently go for $200 to $400 apiece online.
\nBorn and raised in Cincinnati, Rose began gambling as a youngster when his dad took him to a local racetrack. By the time he reached the big leagues, he was betting on college and pro basketball and pro football in addition to the horses.
\n\u201cOn Feb. 5, 1986, I wrote three checks for eight grand each to cover my losses on the NFL playoffs,\u201d Rose wrote. \u201cThe NFL turned into March Madness, which turned into the NBA playoffs, which always turned into the skids.
\n\u201cI always lived by one hard and fast rule: You don\u2019t bet on baseball. But for the first time in my life, I was no longer playing baseball, just managing. A part of me was still looking for ways to recapture the high I got from winning batting titles and World Series. If I couldn\u2019t get the high from playing baseball, then I needed a substitute.
\n\u201cI can\u2019t honestly remember the first time I bet on baseball. But I remember the first time I spoke openly about it. I was sitting in my living room, watching the 1986 playoffs between the Mets and the Astros. I had a group of friends over for the game. Without even thinking of the consequences, I said, \u2018Betting on the playoffs makes the games more exciting to watch.\u2019 \u201d
\nRose\u2019s immense popularity in his hometown began to erode when the Dowd Report was made public.
\n\u201cForever and ever and ever, the people here have been solidly behind Pete,\u201d Marty Brennaman, longtime broadcaster for the Reds, told The Times\u2019 Bill Plaschke. \u201cThis is the most provincial city I\u2019ve lived in. I can\u2019t imagine a more provincial city.
\n\u201cBut now, there is a segment of the population where, if they haven\u2019t completely gone the other way against Pete, there is at least an element of doubt in their minds. People are becoming divided.\u201d
\nLongtime Cincinnati historian Dan Hurley insisted the public reaction was even harsher.
\n\u201cI think the reaction finally is, \u2018Hey, they got him,\u2019 \u201d Hurley said of Rose. \u201cAnd for us, that\u2019s not very pleasant.\u201d
\nLongtime Cincinnati historian Dan Hurley insisted the public reaction was even harsher.
\n\u201cI think the reaction finally is, \u2018Hey, they got him,\u2019 \u201d Hurley said of Rose. \u201cAnd for us, that\u2019s not very pleasant.\u201d
\nRose does have his supporters within baseball. Terry Francona, his former teammate who is in his first season as Reds manager, recently said, \u201cIf he\u2019s not in the Hall of Fame, there isn\u2019t one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pete Rose speaks at a news conference in Las Vegas after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he has no intention of altering Rose\u2019s lifetime ban from baseball.
\n(Mark J. Terrill \/ Associated Press)
\nRose first petitioned for reinstatement in 1997 when Bud Selig was commissioner. Selig didn\u2019t meet with Rose until 2002 and did not rule on the issue before he retired in 2006. Manfred rejected a second petition by Rose in 2015, saying, \u201cMr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life either by an honest acceptance by him of his wrongdoing, so clearly established by the Dowd Report, or by a rigorous, self-aware and sustained program of avoidance by him of the circumstances that led to his permanent eligibility in 1989.
\n\u201cAbsent such credible evidence, allowing him to work in the game presents an unacceptable risk of a future violation by him of Rule 21, and thus to the integrity of our sport. I, therefore, must reject Mr. Rose\u2019s application for reinstatement.\u201d
\nRose\u2018s death created an opportunity to revisit his status. If the permanently ineligible list exists to prevent a person who poses a threat to the integrity of the game from working in baseball, could that status change when the person is no longer living?
\nRoses adorn the statue of Pete Rose at Great American Ballpark in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson’s Reinstatement Pete Rose was posthumously removed from Major League Baseball\u2019s permanently ineligible list Tuesday, making the all-time hits leader eligible for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. \u201cShoeless\u201d Joe Jackson, banned after his participation in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, also was reinstated in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14482","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-wellness"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/13bd565\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3000x1575+0+278\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F78%2F17%2F17aa84d942ca8bfc5675addcbb2c%2Ftim-dahlberg-baseball.JPEG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14482"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14482"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14484,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14482\/revisions\/14484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}