Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is reportedly reviewing a petition to reinstate Pete Rose. Hopefully that review doesn’t take very long and ends in a definitive “no,” because the league absolutely does not need to reinstate Rose, nor should it.
Rose died Sept. 30, 2024, which means there’s only one reason to reinstate him: To put him in the Baseball Hall of Fame. There is no other reason for reinstatement. And, no, he doesn’t need to be in the Hall of Fame.
First, let’s review. The facts of the case are these, and they are indisputable:
- MLB Rule 21(d) states: “(2) 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.”
- That rule was instituted in 1921 and was posted in every clubhouse for decades.
- Pete Rose willingly violated the rule both as a player and a manager.
- In 1989, Rose was found to have violated the rule and was punished accordingly.
- In 1991, the Baseball Hall of Fame decided that players ruled permanently ineligible by Major League Baseball would also be ineligible for the Hall of Fame.
- In 2004, Rose — after years of lying about it — admitted that he did indeed bet on baseball.
He willingly did something that carried the punishment of a permanent ban and was punished with a permanent ban. And yet so many people are outraged on his behalf. He did the crime and will continue to do the proverbial time.
The rule has colloquially been said to carry a “lifetime ban,” but take note that this isn’t true. The rule says permanently ineligible.
The institution of Rule 21 was necessary because of the Black Sox scandal, when eight Chicago players were found to have thrown the 1919 World Series. Any personnel taking part in the game itself who also gamble on the game became, correctly, the cardinal sin of baseball. If there’s any hint that a game’s outcome has been fixed or compromised in any way, the sport is tainted. It simply cannot be tolerated, which is why the punishment was so steep when the rule came about and why that punishment remains just as steep.
Rose chose to violate the rule again and again. The punishment for the crime was a permanent ban from baseball. Of course, he lived the rest of his life around baseball. He was on the field and introduced as a member of the All-Century Team at the 1999 World Series. There’s a street in Cincinnati named Pete Rose Way and there’s a statue of Rose outside Great American Ball Park. He was honored in Cincinnati multiple times.
This is to say that he hasn’t exactly been erased from the memory of baseball fans or from the history of the sport. In fact, he’s probably the single most talked-about former player. Putting him in the Hall of Fame wouldn’t change anything there.
Every argument that’s made in Rose’s favor is a deflection.
Players did steroids! Not the same thing and it doesn’t change that Rose violated the rule that carries a permanent ban.
The sign-stealing scandal! Again, it’s not the same thing and changes nothing about what Rose did to violate the sanctity of the game.
Fans can gamble on baseball and MLB has deals with gambling companies! And team personnel are still forbidden from gambling on diamond sports. This, again, changes absolutely nothing.
You aren’t perfect! Nope. I’m not. This has nothing to do with telling it like it is regarding Rose.
The biggest, overarching argument regarding Rose is that a full account of the greatest players in history is incomplete unless Rose is in there. That’s true. He was one of the best players in MLB history. He absolutely was not the greatest hitter ever — as many people like to say — nor was he a top-tier all-time great like Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Babe Ruth. He was, obviously, though, a great enough player to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer based on his playing career.
He also violated the rule that carried a permanent ban from baseball.
You can’t tell the story of baseball without mentioning Rose and his hits record in addition to winning an MVP and three World Series titles? There’s an entire exhibit in Cooperstown on his hits record! It’s there! In the Hall of Fame! He’ll never be forgotten. He’s an immortal baseball talking point.
So, let’s be very clear about what reinstatement would mean: a posthumous honor. That’s it. An induction into the Hall of Fame would change nothing except there would be a ceremony where he would be recognized.
Does he really deserve that?
We’re talking about the guy who stained the game by gambling on it. He lied about it for well over a decade and then decided to come clean when he thought it would get him reinstated. And yet, he still justified his actions by explaining that he only bet on his team to win. Of course, there’s a wrinkle in there that needs our focus.
Rose didn’t bet on his team every single game as far as we know. If you only pick and choose which games upon which to bet, it’s easy to assume those are the ones he thinks his team is going to win. Maybe he just liked the odds better or thought some opponents were weaker than others. Maybe he tried harder some nights.
Is it really so necessary to honor him with a Hall of Fame ceremony?
Let’s also keep in mind that he was accused of statutory rape for an alleged relationship with a minor younger than 16 in the 1970s. When he was asked about it in 2022 in Philadelphia, his first response to a woman reporter was, “it was 55 years ago, babe.” Later, he said, “who cares what happened 50 years ago?”
So, again, I ask: Is this a man who really needs to be honored?
No, he doesn’t. If Manfred gets this right, he’ll keep Rose on the permanent ban list and ensure he doesn’t get into the Hall of Fame. He stained the game and doesn’t deserve it, even posthumously.
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