In removing Pete Rose from the ineligible list after 36 years, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred chose not to forgive Rose, but rather to come up with flawed logic to finally give in to public pressure. Manfred explained his decision by claiming a dead person naturally should not be on the list. Conveniently for MLB, Rose passed away on September 30, 2024.
If his explanation is true, why was Shoeless Joe Jackson not removed when he passed away 74 years ago? The same holds for the other greats removed on Tuesday, all long deceased.
The truth is that Major League Baseball knows Rose belongs as an inductee in the Hall of Fame, home to several players and executives with checkered off-field conduct. In Rose’s case, MLB was and still is incapable of displaying grace.
Rose was suspended in 1989 for his sins against baseball, but the banishment allowed him to apply for reinstatement after one year, in 1990. Pete repeatedly applied for reinstatement, and MLB consistently ignored or rejected his pleas. Never did MLB claim it was because he was still alive, yet most of us suspected they would wait until he passed so as not to give his family and fans the joy of seeing him in Cooperstown.
Vengeance, not grace.
Now, also conveniently, Rose will not be considered until 2027 because the Era Committee will not meet until then. Prior to his passing, the Era Committee would have easily voted for Rose’s induction. But MLB chose to wait.
Of course, now MLB can add betting on Rose’s election to the Hall of Fame to its lucrative betting sites.
Randy Freking lives in Columbia Tusculum and is a retired lawyer and author of three books on the Cincinnati Reds.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Pete Rose deserved a Hall of Fame induction, not a posthumous cop-out | Opinion
Reporting by Randy Freking / Cincinnati Enquirer
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