Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson were reinstated by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday, making both eligible for the sport’s Hall of Fame after their careers were tarnished by sports gambling scandals.
Manfred announced Tuesday that he was changing the league’s policy on permanent ineligibility, saying bans would expire at death. Rose and Jackson were among 17 total players reinstated Tuesday.
Rose’s permanent ban was lifted eight months after his death and came a day before the Cincinnati Reds will honor baseball’s career hits leader with Pete Rose Night.
Also included in Tuesday’s reinstatement were Arnold “Chick” Grandel, Eddie Cicotte, Oscar “Happy” Felsch, Fred McMullin, Charles “Swede” Risberg, George “Buck” Weaver and Claude “Lefty” Williams. They, along with Jackson, were part of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal, in which they were accused of taking bribes from gambling concerns to intentionally lose the World Series that year. The scandal ultimately led to the appointment of the first baseball commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who banned the implicated White Sox players.
Also reinstated were William Cox, Benny Kauff, Joe Gedeon, Gene Paulette, Lee Magee, Phil Douglas, Albert J. “Cozy” Dolan and Jimmy O’Connell.
Under the Hall of Fame’s current rules, the earliest Rose or Jackson could be inducted would be in 2028.
Rose agreed to a permanent ban on Aug. 23, 1989, following an investigation commissioned by Major League Baseball concluded Rose repeatedly bet on the Reds as a player and manager of the team from 1985-87, a violation of a long-standing MLB rule.
Rose first applied for reinstatement in September 1997, but then-Commissioner Bud Selig never ruled on the request. Manfred in 2015 rejected a petition for reinstatement, saying “Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life.”
Rose died Sept. 30 at age 83, and a new petition was filed Jan. 8 by Jeffrey Lenkov, a lawyer who represented Rose. Lenkov and Rose’s daughter Fawn had met with Manfred on Dec. 17.
Rose’s supporters have included U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he intends to pardon Rose posthumously. Manfred discussed Rose with Mr. Trump when the pair met in April, but he hasn’t disclosed specifics of their conversation.
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.”
A 17-time All-Star during a playing career from 1963-86, Rose holds record for hits (4,256), games (3,562), at-bats (14,053), plate appearances (15,890) and singles (3,215). He was the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year, 1973 MVP and 1975 World Series MVP. A three-time NL batting champion, he broke the prior hits record of 4,191 set by Ty Cobb from 1905-28.
Jackson, a .356 career hitter, died in 1951. He remains one of baseball’s most recognizable names in part for his depiction by Ray Liotta in the 1989 movie Field of Dreams.
Under a rule adopted by the Hall’s board of directors in 1991, anyone on the permanently ineligible list can’t be considered for election to the Hall. Jackson was twice considered on ballots by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, but received just 0.9% in 1936 and 1% of a nominating vote in 1940.
Rose’s reinstatement occurred too late for him to be considered for the BBWAA ballot. If not on the permanently banned list, Rose would have been eligible on the ballots each from 1992 through 2006. He was written in on 41 votes in 1992 and on 243 of 7,232 ballots (3.4%) over the 15 years, votes that were not counted.
Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement that players affected by Manfred’s ruling Tuesday would be considered.
“The National Baseball Hall of Fame has always maintained that anyone removed from Baseball’s permanently ineligible list will become eligible for Hall of Fame consideration,” she said. “Major League Baseball’s decision to remove deceased individuals from the permanently ineligible list will allow for the Hall of Fame candidacy of such individuals to now be considered.”
Without the ban, both players are eligible for the Hall’s Classic Baseball Era, which next meets to consider players in December 2027 and considers those whose greatest contributions to the sport were before 1980.
A 10-person historical overview committee selects the eight ballot candidates with the approval of the Hall’s board and the ballot is considered by 16 members at the winter meetings, with a 75% or higher vote needed. The committee members include Hall of Fame members, team executives and media/historians.
While many argue Rose should be in the Hall based on his career numbers, voters tasked with selecting players for the Hall are also told to consider a player’s “integrity, sportsmanship, character and contribution to the game.” This clause, Rose and Jackson’s critics argue, should keep them out of the Hall of Fame.
In addition to his gambling, Rose faced other off-the-field issues.
He entered guilty pleas on April 20, 1990, to two counts of filing false tax returns, admitting he failed to report $354,968 during a four-year period. Rose was sentenced on July 19, 1990, by U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel in Cincinnati to five months in prison. He also was fined $50,000 and ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service as a gym teacher’s assistant with inner-city youths in Cincinnati as part of a one-year probation period. The first three months of the probation were to be spent at the halfway house. Rose repaid the Internal Revenue Service $366,042.
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