1 of 3 | Pete Rose discusses his ban from major league baseball at a press conference in 1999 at New York’s All Star Cafe. On Tuesday, Rose was removed from the league’s ineligible list, eight months after his death, and will become eligible for the Hall of Fame. File Photo by Ezio Petersen/UPI | License Photo
Pete Rose, who was banished from Major League Baseball for gambling on the game, has been removed from the league’s permanently ineligible list and could be a contender for the Hall of Fame, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday.
Manfred’s decision, in response to a petition from the Rose family, will also reinstate 16 other deceased players.
“In my view, once an individual has passed away, the purposes of Rule 21 have been served. Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred wrote in a statement. “Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has 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,” Manfred added.
Tuesday’s decision also removes “Shoeless” Joe Jackson from MLB’s permanently ineligible list.
Jackson, who played for the Chicago White Sox, was accused of conspiring with gamblers to intentionally lose the 1919 World Series. While Jackson denied gambling on the World Series, he and seven of his teammates were banned for life from Major League Baseball for the “Black Sox Scandal.” All were later acquitted of conspiring with gamblers in 1921.
“Regardless of what anybody says, I was innocent of any wrongdoing,” Jackson told the Sporting News in 1942, according to Jackson’s website. “I gave baseball all I had … I think my record in the 1919 World Series will stand up against that of any other man in that series or any other World Series in all history.”
While Jackson denied fixing the World Series, Rose admitted to betting on games in his 2004 book, My Prison Without Bars. Rose said he only bet on his team to win.
Rose was Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader. He died in September at the age of 83. Nicknamed “Charlie Hustle,” Rose hit .303 over 3,562 appearances, the most in MLB history. Rose was also a 17-time All-Star and three-time batting champion.
The All-Star third baseman never appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot after he was placed on MLB’s permanently ineligible list in 1989 for betting on baseball, while he was manager for the Cincinnati Reds.
Rose was a three-time World Series champion and 1973 National League MVP. He spent 19 of his 24 career seasons with the Reds. Rose also played for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Montreal Expos.
While Rose applied for reinstatement to MLB eligibility numerous times over the decades, he was never admitted. In 2016, he was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. In 2020, Rose again requested MLB reinstatement, citing the Houston Astros cheating scandal in his petition.
The seven other White Sox players, involved in the 1919 Black Sox scandal, were among those removed Tuesday from the ineligible list. They include Happy Felsch, Chick Gandil, Eddie Cicotte, Lefty Williams, Fred McMullin, Buck Weaver and Swede Risberg.
Other players removed from MLB’s ineligible list include Joe Gedeon, Gene Paulette, Benny Kauff, Lee Magee, Phil Douglas, Cozy Dolan, Jimmy O’Connell and William Cox.
All of the reinstated, deceased MLB members are now eligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame as early as 2028.
On Tuesday, Reds owner Bob Castellini applauded Manfred’s decision to reinstate Rose.
“On behalf of the Reds and our generations of loyal fans, we are thankful for the decision of Commissioner Manfred and Major League Baseball regarding the removal of Pete Rose from the permanently ineligible list,” Castellini said in a statement.
“Pete is one of the greatest players in baseball history, and Reds Country will continue to celebrate him as we always have,” Castellini continued.
“We are especially happy for the Rose family to receive this news and what this decision could mean for them and all of Pete’s fans.”
