Major League Baseball Ends Pete Rose Ban
Two titans of Major League Baseball could finally be headed to the Hall of Fame after major decision from the league.
"Shoeless" Joe Jackson, Pete Rose and other deceased players have been removed from the league's permanently ineligible list, according to a report from ESPN's Don Van Notta. "The all-time hit king and Jackson -- both longtime baseball pariahs stained by gambling, seen by MLB as the game's mortal sin -- are now presumably eligible for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York," the iconic ESPN reporter said this afternoon.
Commissioner Rob Manfred ultimately ruled that MLB's punishment of banned individuals ends upon 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, who petitioned for Rose's removal from the list Jan. 8. "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's decision ends Rose's ban that stretches back to 1989, following the league's investigation that found the 17-time All-Star bet on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds.
Jackson and seven other Chicago White Sox, meanwhile, were banned from playing professional baseball in 1921 by MLB's first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, for fixing the 1919 World Series.
Rose, who died in Septmeber 2024, and Jackson could be enshrined in the Hall of Fame as early as 2028.