Rose removed from ‘ineligible’ list and may be voted into Hall

Pete Rose, who collected a major league record 4,256 hits, has never been considered for the Hall of Fame because of a 1991 rule change that barred players on the ineligible list from election. (X via PeteRose_14)

By Tyler Kepner / The Athletic

Major League Baseball earlier this week removed Pete Rose and other deceased players from its “permanently ineligible” list, an extraordinary twist to a saga that has gone on for more than three decades.

The decision, announced Tuesday by Commissioner Rob Manfred in a letter to the Rose family’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lenkov, makes the sport’s career hits leader eligible for election to the Hall of Fame.

Rose, who died from a heart condition in September at 83, was placed on MLB’s permanently ineligible list in 1989 for gambling on his team, the Cincinnati Reds, while he managed it. Rose, who collected a record 4,256 hits, has never been considered for the Hall of Fame because of a 1991 rule change that barred players on the ineligible list from election.

According to a statement from MLB, in a letter to Lenkov, Manfred wrote:

“In my view, a determination must be made regarding how the phrase ‘permanently ineligible’ should be interpreted in light of the purposes and policies behind Rule 21, which are to: (1) protect the game from individuals who pose a risk to the integrity of the sport by prohibiting the participation of such individuals; and (2) create a deterrent effect that reduces the likelihood of future violations by others. 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. 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 met in December with Lenkov, who represented Rose until his death, and Rose’s daughter, Fawn, to discuss the possibility of reinstatement. Rose’s family on Jan. 8 filed a formal petition for reinstatement, in hopes of a posthumous induction to the Hall of Fame.

Manfred’s ruling Tuesday applies to 16 other individuals, including Shoeless Joe Jackson.

In mid-April, Manfred met at the White House with President Donald Trump, who posted support for Rose’s Hall of Fame case on social media in 2020 and again after his death, writing: “Major League Baseball should have allowed him into the Hall of Fame many years ago. Do it now, before his funeral!”

Trump raised the issue again in March on Truth Social, calling for Rose to be elected to the Hall of Fame and saying that MLB “didn’t have the courage or decency” to allow him in.

“Over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING,” Trump wrote. “He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history.”

Trump did not specify the infraction for which he would pardon Rose. Rose served five months in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion charges in 1990, but that was unrelated to his ban from baseball.

Rose had long been a presence on induction weekend in Cooperstown, New York, selling his autograph at a memorabilia shop on Main Street for years, including in 2024. Artifacts of his career are also displayed in the museum, and the library contains voluminous material and documents related to his legacy.

But Rose understood that he would likely never get the glory of the induction ceremony that comes with a spot in the hallowed plaque gallery.

“I’ve come to the conclusion — I hope I’m wrong — that I’ll make the Hall of Fame after I die,’” Rose said 10 days before his death in an interview with John Condit, a sportscaster in Dayton, Ohio. “Which I totally disagree with, because the Hall of Fame is for two reasons: your fans and your family. That’s what the Hall of Fame is for. Your fans and your family. And it’s for your family if you’re here. It’s for your fans if you’re here. Not if you’re 10 feet under.”

Players eligible for the Hall of Fame are initially voted on by a group of about 400 baseball writers, but that window closes 15 years after a player’s final game. Players not elected by the writers are considered by a 16-person committee of Hall of Famers, front-office members and historians on a rotating basis, with candidates grouped from different eras.

Based on the current rules for election, Rose’s case would be forwarded to a committee that will determine the era to which his career belongs. If Rose is determined to have made his greatest contributions before 1980 — which seems logical — he could be eligible for the “classic era” committee, which next meets in December 2027.

If he makes it onto that ballot, Rose would need 12 of 16 votes to be enshrined.

Rose was banned by Commissioner Bart Giamatti after a report by investigator John Dowd confirmed that he had violated Rule 21 (d) (2), which states: “Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.”

Giamatti, who implored Rose to “reconfigure” his life as a condition of possible reinstatement, died of a heart attack eight days after the decision. Manfred is the third commissioner since then, following Fay Vincent and Bud Selig, and had rejected Rose’s petitions for reinstatement in 2015 and 2020.

“While it is my preference not to disturb decisions made by prior commissioners, Mr. Rose was not placed on the permanently ineligible list by commissioner action but rather as the result of a 1989 settlement of potential litigation with the commissioner’s office,” Manfred wrote Tuesday. “My decision today is consistent with Commissioner Giamatti’s expectations of that agreement.

“Commissioner Giamatti’s comments were completely reasonable given that, at the time, the Hall of Fame did not have a rule barring people on the permanently ineligible list from Hall of Fame consideration,” Manfred wrote. “In fact, Shoeless Joe Jackson was afforded the opportunity to be voted upon in 1936 and again in 1946.”