With one svelte swoop of the pen, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday removed MLB’s all-time hits leader Pete Rose and the infamous “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and others deceased players from Major League Baseball’s permanently ineligible list.
Both Rose and Jackson were iconic players with careers stained by gambling scandals. Which is still seen as baseball’s immortal sin. The release of these players from the dishonorable list, now clears the path for both to take their rightful induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Is Pete Rose Cooperstown Bound?
Manfred proclaimed that the league’s punishment of these banned players ended with their deaths.
“Obviously a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred wrote in a letter to attorney Jeffrey M. Lenkov, one of many who petitioned for Rose’s removal from the list last January 8th.”Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that had more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve.”
“Therefore, I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list.”
Pete Rose Is MLB All-Time Hits Leader With 4,256: Bet On Baseball
Rose is baseball’s all-time hits leader with 4,256 hits. The 17-time All-star played 24 seasons primarily with the Cincinnati Reds. As one of the catalysts for the dynasty ‘Big Red Machine’ that dominated the National League in the 1970s, Rose is also the franchise’s all-time leader in games, plate appearances, runs, hits, singles, doubles, and walks.
Manfred’s bold decision finally ends the ban that Rose accepted from former Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in August of 1989 after an investigation discovered that Rose had bet on baseball games – even his own– while managing the Cincinnati Reds.
As a manager who also has a gambling problem, Rose’s presence in the dugout presented a great threat to the integrity of a game he represented so iconically up to that point. Jackson, the subject of the classic baseball book and film, “Eight Men Out,” and seven other Chicago White Sox players were permanently banned from playing pro ball in 1921 by MLB’s inaugural commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. They were accused of taking money from organized crime members to fix the 1919 World Series. It became known as the “Black Sox Scandal,” one of the black eyes in baseball history.
Jackson has been dead since 1951, and Rose peacefully left the earth on September 30, 2024.
Pete Rose Gets Cooperstown Eligibility Back After He Dies
“Charlie Hustle” and “Shoeless Joe” could be enshrined in Cooperstown as early as the summer of 2028, according to the current rules for players who last played more than 15 years ago.
In addition to these legends, Manfred’s ruling includes Jackson’s teammates, Eddie Cicotte and third baseman George “Buck” Weaver. Putting an end to a lingering sore point in history. Their families will surely be happy to walk with their heads up again and celebrate the memory of a beloved family member whose legacy was tarnished for many years.
Almost a decade ago, Lenkov began a campaign to get Pete Rose reinstated. On Dec. 17, in fact, Rose’s eldest daughter, Fawn, and Lenkov appealed to Manfred and MLB chief communications officer Pat Courtney during an hour-eating at MLB’s Manhattan base.
Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the board of the Hall of Fame said Manfred also holds all the cards concerning Rose’s eligibility for consideration by the Historical Overview Committee. The group “develops the ballot of names for the Classic Baseball Era Committee…to vote on when it meets next in December 2027. You need 12 out of 16 votes (75%) to be inducted.
Now that Rose has been cleared, baseball fans were happy for him, but many want the same courtesy extended to those icons who have been blackballed from the league for alleged PED use.
“Put Barry Bonds, ARod, Clemens, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa In the Hall“
Those were the words of one baseball fan when hearing of Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson’s reinstatement.
Some fans argued that the two situations are different.
“Which deserves a ban from the Hall of Fame? A short time of betting on your team to win. OR using banned steroids which gave the player an unfair advantage to win? Equally bad? One deserves a ban and not the other. Using steroids had a huge impact on baseball game outcomes. Pete Rose betting on his team did not effect the game outcomes at all,” reasoned one fan as to why Rose should be reinstated but accused PED legends should not.
Some fans went as far as to credit President Donald Trump for the decision.
“TRUMP makes Baseball Great Again!,” yells one fan. ESPN analyst Tim Kurkjian suggested that President Trump’s office put pressure on MLB to reinstate Rose.
Why Wait Until Pete Rose Is Dead?
Others chastised commissioner Rob Manfred for waiting until Rose had passed to allow him to be accepted back into the baseball community that has eluded him all these decades.
“That’s crazy, they wait till the man dies… what a spiteful thing for the @mlb to do,” said one fan.
“It’s disgusting, low, pedi and makes me sick! If I was a son or grandchild, I would not support this and block this if anyway possible,” said another fan.
People are sure to have plenty of opinions. If people who gambled and potentially fixed games can be exonerated and welcomed into Cooperstown, then shouldn’t we also allow the PED greats – especially those who have never failed a test – to enjoy the same glory. No way the greatest players in our game’s history should be kept on the outside like they don’t exist. Especially when we continue to maintain a false sense integrity for an era in which everyone was guilty in some way, while inducting questionable talents into the HOF.
