Pete Rose did more harm to Major League Baseball than he did good, no matter what any of his mistaken supporters might have you believe, which is why Commissioner Rob Manfred never removed him from the permanently ineligible list while Rose was alive.
Manfred cannot, should not and probably will not absolve Rose of his sins now. No matter — Manfred appears to be seeking a compromise that could lead to Rose posthumously getting what he wanted all along: induction into baseball’s Hall of Fame.
Not long after he died, Rose’s family made a formal appeal to Manfred — which has since been backed informally by President Donald Trump — for Rose to be removed from the permanently ineligible list. The act of crossing Rose off the list wouldn’t itself put him into the Hall of Fame any more than a presidential pardon would, but Manfred could find a way to work around Rose’s ban and get the Cooperstown gears turning for him.
Speaking Monday at a meeting of Associated Press Sports Editors, Manfred said he “will issue a ruling” and not a “pocket veto” on the matter of Rose, though he didn’t give many details. It’s difficult to envision that Manfred, who is nothing if not a lawyer, would negate precedent and reverse decades of rulings by the commissioner’s office against Rose, who was placed on the permanently ineligible list in 1989.
MLB banned Rose — a 17-time All-Star and the league’s all-time leader in base hits — because it found he gambled on Cincinnati Reds games in which he played and managed. Rose put his own financial interests ahead of winning games, violating the No. 1 rule for ballplayers and, as a result, cast doubt on the authenticity of his entire career. Belying the hype of his reputation, Rose wasn’t a leader or even a good teammate. He was out for himself. Fans called him “Charlie Hustle” because of his style of play, not realizing they were the ones being hustled.
The damage Rose did hasn’t been undone, and the precedent he set — especially today, when MLB dubiously has partnered with gambling enterprises — is not one to be emulated, much less celebrated. The last thing Major League Baseball should do is throw Rose a party, no matter that he can’t come.
Rose, who died Sept. 30 at age 83, also never atoned for his transgressions and false denials, because if he had taken the opportunities MLB offered, the commissioner’s office would have reinstated him at some point before now. Rose never lacked for having choices to make.
On multiple occasions since 2015, after he became commissioner, Manfred denied Rose’s appeals. The most recent denial came in November 2022, after Rose sent a letter to Manfred begging to be reinstated. TMZ reprinted it.
Manfred replied with clarity: “I believe that when you bet on baseball, from Major League Baseball’s perspective, you belong on the permanently ineligible list.”
Manfred meant what he said this past June, when he placed someone else on the ineligible list for violating MLB’s gambling rules. He hit San Diego Padres infielder/outfielder Tucupita Marcano with a lifetime ban — same as Rose. Four other players received yearlong suspensions for gambling-related offenses. Yes, Manfred wants the league to generate income from sanctioned MLB gambling that exploits fans. No, he doesn’t want its players to eat the sport alive by also betting on games.
Another thing Manfred clearly doesn’t want: to be known as the lone individual keeping Rose out of the Hall of Fame. He would much rather make someone else appear responsible for that. Here’s what else Manfred said in 2022, when he previously denied Rose:
“I made it clear that I didn’t think that the function of that baseball list was the same as the eligibility criteria for the Hall of Fame,” Manfred said. “That remains my position. I think it’s a conversation that really belongs in the Hall of Fame board. I’m on that board, and it’s just not appropriate for me to get in front of that conversation.”
The Hall’s board of directors made a rule in 1991 — just before Rose’s name was to appear on a BBWAA ballot for the first time — that anyone appearing on MLB’s permanently ineligible list also would be ineligible for election to the Hall of Fame. The Hall made the rule for Rose himself, although it also retroactively applied to Joe Jackson, the seven other Black Sox and anyone else on the permanently ineligible list.
So why now, after 33-plus years, would the Hall’s board be interested in repealing the rule? Just because Rose has died? Shoeless Joe died in 1951.
More likely, it has to do with Manfred being interested in changing the Hall’s rule because he’s been pestered by Rose’s family and the president. Because of how the rules work, Manfred’s authority as commissioner is, right now, what won’t allow the Hall of Fame to even consider Rose. But if Manfred — as one of 17 individuals on the Hall’s board — could persuade the body to repeal its own rule forbidding banned players, it would deflect heat off himself.
If banned players became eligible, the next step for Rose would be having his name nominated by the Hall’s Historical Overview Committee, a group selected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and approved by the Hall’s board. If he passes that hurdle, Rose would gain a spot on the 16-member Classic Baseball Era committee that meets in December 2027. Twelve votes in his favor and, by 2028, Rose finally would have his day in Cooperstown.
None of it is a sure thing, but a lot of fans would be happy if it happened. Polling on Rose typically tends to be in his favor. Is it because of fans who just don’t care that Rose broke the rules and hurt the integrity of the game? Or they don’t think whatever he did was that bad? That he “only bet on the Reds to win,” which isn’t necessarily true? Or that gambling isn’t worse than players who took steroids? It’s one or more of those things.
Manfred removing Rose from the permanently ineligible list would give tacit approval to anyone else to bet on baseball with impunity. But if Manfred could get the Hall of Fame to do its own dirty work — almost by daring them to come out and actually say, “Pete Rose, we don’t want you” — it would give him historical cover.
Manfred doesn’t even need something that bold. If he could show that the board just considered changing its rule, Manfred could turn to Rose’s family, the president and unhappy fans and say: “Hey, it’s not up to me. I did my best.”
It’s reasonable to say the Hall of Fame had an easy out with Rose all of these years because of their rule against banned players. Then again — why shouldn’t the Hall of Fame have a rule against banned players? They did horrible things to hurt the game. Or else why did MLB ban them?
Perhaps worse (somehow), Rose’s deceit corrupted the game as he pretended to be someone almost holy. And you know who has been hurt most of all by Rose’s illicit activity? The Hall of Fame. Rose totally screwed them over — in loss of foot traffic alone.
Manfred did the polite thing by meeting with Rose’s daughter. He did it again by meeting at the White House with the president because he wanted to talk about Rose and whatever else. It would be quite a political maneuver for Manfred to navigate all of that, keep Pete Rose banned where he belongs, and make himself look like the good guy.
That’s the best-case scenario right now for the good of Major League Baseball. It’s funny how Manfred had no issues saying no to Rose when he was alive. But now, all of a sudden, when Rose’s family and President Trump make what amount to repeat requests, Manfred loses his supply of fortitude.
It would be a shame if this ends with Rose getting a plaque in Cooperstown. His story is already told in the museum part of the building. It’s not like he’s excluded from history. He couldn’t possibly be.
But if this ends with the Hall of Fame telling Rose to go away forever, Manfred’s ploy might be worth it.
