Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday that he had decided to remove disgraced former player and manager Pete Rose from the league’s permanently ineligible list, a move that paves the way for Rose’s posthumous induction into the Hall of Fame.
The league explained in a statement that “Commissioner Manfred has concluded that MLB’s policy shall be that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual.”
An MLB investigation found in 1989 that Rose had broken league rules when he placed bets during his time as both a player and a team manager, and he was officially banned. And Rose, who spent years denying that he had bet on baseball, admitted doing so during an ABC News interview in 2003. Rose died last year.
As NBC News notes, Trump has spoken in public and in private about the league making Rose eligible:
In April, Manfred said he met with Trump to discuss topics including how immigration policies could affect international players. Rose also was a point of discussion. ‘I met with President Trump two weeks ago … and one of the topics was Pete Rose, but I’m not going beyond that,’ Manfred said at the time. ‘He’s said what he said publicly. I’m not going beyond that in terms of what the back and forth was.’ Trump said on Truth Social in March that he planned on ‘signing a complete pardon of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on his team winning.’
Trump’s Truth Social post at the time claimed, “Baseball, which is dying all over the place, should get off its fat, lazy ass, and elect Pete Rose, even though far too late, into the Baseball Hall of Fame!”
It’s yet more evidence that no issue is too trivial for the president of the United States (or whoever is operating his social media account) to weigh in.
It’s also notable that this decision comes as the league continues to deal with gambling, as evidenced by the high-profile scandal involving Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter last year and San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcono, who was permanently banned by the league for betting on games.
The MLB’s release also notes that the policy change also applies to “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who was banned with other former Chicago White Sox teammates for fixing the 1919 World Series, and a dozen other players.
