Should Pete Rose be inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame posthumously?
USA Today MLB reporter Steve Gardner shares his thoughts on whether or not Pete Rose should be inducted into the Hall of Fame following his death.
Sports Seriously
Prior to his death in September, Pete Rose had petitioned Major League Baseball several times through the years to consider his reinstatement following the lifetime ban he received in 1989 for gambling on baseball.
The petitions were summarily denied – or ignored – each and every time.
But the confluence of the MLB hit-king’s passing and Friday’s endorsement from President Donald Trump could be the factors that dramatically change the equation.
Trump’s affinity for Rose and desire to see him get into the Baseball Hall of Fame is nothing new. Back in 2018, USA TODAY Sports found that Trump had mentioned Rose in at least 18 tweets, all calling for “Charlie Hustle” to be honored in Cooperstown.
For good measure, Trump said he plans to pardon Rose, who spent several months in jail after pleading guilty to tax evasion in 1990.
While the president may not have a grasp on the Baseball Hall of Fame process, stating in his Truth Social post that MLB itself “didn’t have the courage or decency” to induct Rose (the Hall of Fame handles voting, and Rose has never appeared on a ballot), the bureaucratic details aren’t the point.
In the months since Trump’s second election victory, some of America’s largest companies have fallen in line for the incoming administration by doing things like dropping diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
With public pressure from Trump, will commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB follow suit?
Caught in the unblinking eye?
MLB hasn’t been in Trump World’s best graces, largely stemming from the league’s decision to yank the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta after Georgia passed controversial new voting laws. A number of Republican senators made threats to review the league’s century-old antitrust exemption, a political cudgel that has actually been used in a bipartisan manner. This year’s Midsummer Classic is back in Atlanta, and we’ll surely see some furor from the Trump-adjacents who were so mad four years ago.
Manfred may not have the appetite to deal with the Rose issue during his tenure, but does he really want his league anywhere near Trump’s crosshairs for the next few years?
MLB could take a wait-and-see approach on Rose in the weeks and months to come, but the demands aren’t going to stop. The president has been beating the drum for decades about this, and when he brings it up again, there’s a real risk that the Trump administration would consider taking punitive action against MLB if the league doesn’t abide. In his first term, you could largely count on Trump’s people forgetting to follow through on plans and threats, but they’ve been decidedly more aggressive in executing what he wants in the weeks since his inauguration.
ESPN reported Saturday that Rose’s family had filed a new petition on Jan. 8 to MLB to have him posthumously removed from ineligible list and had met with Manfred in the commissioner’s office in December. Rose’s lawyer Jeffrey Lenkov told ESPN that he had not “actively sought” the White House’s assistance but that when Trump “gets passionate about an issue, POTUS stands behind it… He was very passionate about Pete. Pete would have appreciated the president’s commitment to him.”
What is a ‘lifetime ban’ anyway?
It’s undeniable that Rose’s death ushered in an uncharted new chapter of this 35-year saga.
Part of the intrigue here is the ambiguity surrounding the league’s definition of a “lifetime ban.” Did the punishment expire with Rose?
While Manfred and MLB may not want to accept Rose’s petition on its merits, the league has this exit hatch that offers some plausible deniability. If Manfred decides that Rose’s time on the “permanently ineligible” list ended when he died, that would kick the can to the Baseball Hall of Fame, which, of course, instituted a rule in 1991 that banned those on the “permanently ineligible” list from being inducted.
Maybe it’s an issue the next commissioner wants to take up after Manfred steps aside for the 2029 season?
But can MLB make it that long without succumbing to a potential pressure campaign led by the most powerful man in the world?
Either way, everything we thought we knew about the Pete Rose affair has changed in the past few months. And fans should be taking this round of discourse far more seriously.
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