Even if MLB commissioner Rob Manfred lifts baseball’s permanent ban on Pete Rose today, it would take at least three years for the Hit King to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
That’s because of the process, not eligibility.
The Hall of Fame’s separate exclusion of Rose is based on a 1991 rule enacted as Rose’s would-be election year loomed – the Hall’s board voting to formally make ineligible for the Hall anyone on MLB’s permanently ineligible list.
The Cincinnati native and Reds legend would gain immediate eligibility for the Hall of Fame if Manfred were to rule in the Rose family’s favor on a recent petition to lift his 1989 ban for betting on baseball in the 1980s.
But there would be no immediate ballot for him to be added.
Because of the 1991 ruling, the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot never had the chance to vote for him, and it’s too late now for that ballot. That means consideration through one of the three Era Committee ballots (or what used to be called the veteran’s committee).
As a Hall of Fame official shared via email:
“Voting rules require that candidates on the BBWAA ballot must have played in the Major Leagues no more than 15 years prior to each election. Since Rose’s candidacy with the BBWAA has expired, if he were to be removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list, he would become eligible for consideration by the Hall of Fame’s Era Committee process.”
There are three Era Committee buckets of candidates, considered on a rotating basis annually: Classic Baseball Era (for those whose primary contributions to the game came before 1980, including Negro Leagues candidates) and two Contemporary Baseball Era committees (one for players whose primary contributions came in 1980 or later; and one for managers, executives and umpires whose for contributions came in 1980 or later).
Rose, who was a Rookie of the Year in 1963 and MVP in 1973, would qualify for the Classic Baseball Era ballot, barring a reversal of precedent in assigning players to ballots (Rose played through 1986).
Because that committee was the most recent to convene (electing Dave Parker and Dick Allen), it won’t meet again until December 2027 to consider candidates for induction in the summer of 2028.
It takes 12 of the 16 members of one of the Era Committees to list a candidate on his or her ballot for the candidate to be elected.
So mark the calendar for the Cooperstown road trip: Aug. 6, 2028.
All of which starts with Manfred’s pending decision. The petition was filed Jan. 8. MLB officials say there is no firm timeline on announcing a ruling.
“If he’s not in the Hall of Fame, there isn’t one,” says Reds manager Terry Francona, the one-time Reds player and Rose teammate who’s headed to Cooperstown one day as a manager.
Watch baseball fans pay tribute to Pete Rose at GABP statue
Baseball fans are honoring Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose at his Great American Ball Park statue following Rose’s death Monday.
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