By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is reviewing a request for Pete Rose to be removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list, which could lead to his eventual selection to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

President Donald Trump posted on social media that he planned to posthumously pardon Rose and advocated for MLB to rescind Rose’s lifetime ban, which was issued in 1989 after he was found to be betting on baseball. Rose died on Sept. 30, 2024, at age 83.

Any presidential pardon would be entirely unrelated to MLB’s disciplinary process, which is what has kept Rose out of the Hall of Fame. Trump didn’t specify what he would pardon.

Rose was sentenced to five months in prison for submitting falsified tax returns in 1990.

An investigation into Rose showed that he bet on baseball both as a player and a manager while with the Cincinnati Reds.

Rose served as the Reds’ player-manager from August 1984 until 1986. He continued to manage the Reds after he stopped playing.

Rose denied gambling on baseball at the time. He later claimed he had an understanding that he could apply for reinstatement a year after agreeing to the punishment.

Commissioner  A. Bartlett Giamatti, died eight days after Rose’s banishment. His successor, Fay Vincent, never heard Rose’s appeal.

After denying illegal bets on baseball for nearly 15 years, Rose admitted it in his 2004 book, “My Prison Without Bars.” Later, he signed and sold baseballs with the inscription, “Sorry I bet on baseball.”

So how do we get Pete in the Hall?

The first step would be removal from the MLB’s permanently ineligible list.

Rose voluntarily agreed to his punishment in 1989 after an investigation determined he violated baseball’s rules against gambling on the sport.

If Rose is deemed eligible, he would not be on the ballot sent to the Hall of Fame voters from the BBWAA every November.

Instead, he would be subject to the voting process of the Era Committee, formerly and more colloquially known as the Veterans Committee. If and after that, then he would be on the ballot.

Here are cheatin’ Pete Rose’s greatest contributions to the game — the NL Rookie of the Year in 1963, the NL Most Valuable Player in 1973, three batting titles, two World Series titles and two more NL pennants, the bulk of his 4,256 hits — came before 1980. Rose won another World Series with the Phillies in 1980, appeared in the World Series with Philadelphia in 1983 and broke Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record in 1985.

The Classic Baseball Era committee meets every three years and will hold its next vote in December 2027, meaning Rose’s next opportunity at induction will likely come in July of 2028.

For Rose’s family’s appeal to be successful, Manfred will have to rescind previous statements that permanent banishment is the appropriate punishment for players, managers, and MLB staff for gambling on baseball.

Rose sent a letter to Manfred in 2022 asking for forgiveness.

It’s finally time for Manfred, the 55+ baseball writers, and fans to forgive Pete.

Pete “Charlie Hustle” Rose has claimed to have paid his debt to baseball and his family wants the proper closure and the financial gain of having a hall of fame family member.

Pete to the Hall!