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Hit King and the Hall: Will Pete Rose actually get in?
Though Rob Manfred tried not to draw the connection explicitly, there was only one practical reason to remove Pete Rose from MLB’s permanently ineligible list. Since the league’s all-time hits leader died last year, he has just one baseball-related thing to be eligible for: Cooperstown. Leaving the permanently ineligible list is a waypoint.
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The reality is Manfred only fired a starting gun — now begins a Baseball Hall of Fame consideration process unlike any other. What will that process look like? The Athletic’s Jayson Stark, who’s served on an era committee before, offers a tremendous breakdown.
Here’s a Pulse FAQ on what’s still in front of Rose:
Is Rose’s fate now up to the sportswriters?
Not exactly. The Baseball Writers Association of America votes on most Hall candidacies, with a 75 percent threshold required for enshrinement. Last year, the BBWAA had 394 voters. But Rose played so long ago that his case will go before a much smaller “era committee” of 16 members. These committees tend to be a mix of Hall of Famers, baseball execs, media members and historians. (You can see 2024’s roster here.) They evaluate players from deep in the past who wouldn’t otherwise be eligible for modern consideration.
The scribes still have a role. Writers run a “screening committee” that picks eight names for the broader era committee to consider. Assuming Rose clears that hurdle, he will need 12 of 16 era committee votes when the panel convenes in December 2027.
If he gets them, he’ll be in the class of 2028. (So, yes, this will all soon go on the backburner.)
Is this format more favorable to Rose than if he were just on the standard ballot?
Probably. Knowing and reading quite a few BBWAA members, I think baseball writers with Hall votes are less sympathetic to Rose than former players and Hall of Famers seem to be. A chunk of the BBWAA is in the “no, never” camp on Rose. But the era committee will have Hall of Famers and execs on it, and my read of The Athletic’s reporting on this is Hall of Famers (much like active managers who were around in Rose’s day) are a bit more open to Rose’s candidacy. Our reporters asked 12 Hall members, and I counted zero absolute “no” answers.
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This summer’s class includes two players (Dave Parker and Dick Allen) who made it by way of era committee voting. In total, 117 players (and a few dozen non-players) have gotten to Cooperstown through this process.
As a matter of strictly baseball, Rose is a Hall of Famer. But it’s not all about baseball, is it?
Voters will also consider Rose’s betting on baseball, his many years of lying about it, his five-month prison term for falsifying tax returns, and a woman’s sworn allegation that Rose, in his 30s at the time, had a sexual relationship with her when she was younger than 16. Hall electors haven’t felt comfortable commissioning plaques for known steroid users, and Rose is in a separate but related category. This is a helpful timeline of Rose’s MLB and legal problems.
Cut to it, then: How likely is it that Rose gets in?
I asked Tyler Kepner, an Athletic senior writer, BBWAA member since 1998 and voter in multiple Hall of Fame elections:
💬 The composition of the committee will be critical. The 16 members all meet together right before the vote, and in a setting like that, it’s hard to tell what voices and arguments will be the most persuasive. My guess is that it will be very hard for Rose to get the 12 votes he needs. The Hall tells voters to consider a candidate’s “character, integrity and sportsmanship,” so I could see five or more voters rejecting Rose on that basis. Usually with divisive topics that generate passionate opinions, it’s hard to get 75 percent of any voting bloc to agree. But the fact that it’s a small group, meeting in person, could help Rose if his voters can sway the holdouts.
More to come (in two and a half years).
News to Know
Long live Journalism
Journalism isn’t dead after all. After finishing second in the Kentucky Derby to Sovereignty, Journalism pulled off one of the most incredible comebacks you will ever see to win the 150th Preakness Stakes. The favorite in yesterday’s race trailed by as many as five lengths and looked to be walled off from any shot at a final push. Somehow, Journalism split the double team before making the run of his life down the stretch. You need to watch the whole finish.
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Stars advance to conference finals
Mere hours after his father’s death, Mark Scheifele decided to play in a must-win Game 6 for the Jets. And it was Scheifele, of course, who scored the first goal of the game. But the Stars, who had dominated the first period, equalized soon after. Scheifele was called for tripping late in regulation, and Dallas wasted no time before scoring in overtime. The final scenes from the handshake line were heartbreaking. More takeaways from Dallas as the Stars await a conference finals rematch.
Caitlin Clark posts triple-double in season debut
The WNBA knows Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese will always produce fireworks. It’s why the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky opened their seasons against each other on ABC yesterday. Yesterday’s matchup certainly produced headlines, as things got chippy between Clark and Reese. But it was Clark who had the upper hand, notching an impressive triple-double in a rout of the Sky. So much for the rivalry.
More news:
What to Watch
📺 Soccer: West Ham vs. Nottingham Forest | 9:15 a.m. ET on USA
I keep telling you to watch Forest, and Forest keeps failing to pick up three points. One win in its last five fixtures has this club’s dream season on ice, as it’s fallen to seventh in the Premier League, two spots out of a Champions League spot. Still, Forest has a shot, but they desperately need to beat a West Ham club that will finish just above the relegation zone along with bottomfeeders Tottenham and Manchester United. (What a year.)
📺 NBA: Nuggets at Thunder, Game 7 | 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC
OKC has gotten a lot more than it bargained for from Nikola Jokić and friends. The “and friends” part has been a big deal, too: Aaron Gordon (questionable for this one with a hamstring injury) with his clutch shooting early in the series, Julian Strawther with a critical Game 6 effort. Who will wear the cape this time?
📺 NHL: Panthers at Maple Leafs, Game 7 | 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT
The biggest Leafs game since at least 2002, the team’s last time making the conference finals, and arguably further back than that. Expect Toronto to offer an even more intense environment than the typical decisive game. I am a tad nervous just typing this all out.
Pulse Picks
A useful read to start your Sunday: five small habits sports psychologists wish everyone practiced.
This idea by Matt Barrows for an 18-game NFL schedule. (I don’t think the league should go to 18 games, but it eventually will, so the schedule might as well be good.) — Alex Kirshner
From the post-“Andor” rewatch: Imagine fighting the Empire every day for a decade, then seeing Han Solo get a medal three minutes after signing up. — Jason Kirk
This funny story on the special memento for position players who strike out Shohei Ohtani.
Seconding Jason’s “Andor” recommendation. I feel gutted and sated at the same time. What a show. — Chris Branch
After multiple years with a cheap couch I bought online that felt like a movie prop, I bought a real couch this week from my neighbor, who was moving. This has changed my life in ways that I cannot express in human words. Shout out good couches. — Levi Weaver
Will Sammon’s dispatch from sections 203 and 204 at Yankee Stadium, aka the “field of screams,” as Juan Soto returned Friday.
Get your kid a Tonie. It’s essentially a bedtime book reader — from marine life to Disney to “Captain Underpants.” Do your read then 🤝 hand it off. — Chris Sprow
Sweet potatoes as a platform for whatever toppings you need to clear out of the fridge (like these). — Torrey Hart
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on previously unreported details from the Hockey Canada trial after the lifting of a publication ban.
Most-read on the website yesterday: Jared Weiss’ post-mortem on the Celtics’ season.
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(Top photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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