Integrity, MLB announced Tuesday, is as fluid as the passing of time.
In a landmark judgment, commissioner Rob Manfred removed MLB’s all-time hits leader, Pete Rose, deadball icon “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and 15 other deceased transgressors from the league’s permanently ineligible list. The verdict means Rose, banned for life in 1989 for betting on major-league games, is now eligible for enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time.
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“In my view, once an individual has passed away, the purposes of Rule 21 have been served,” Manfred said in a statement announcing the decision. “Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game. Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve.”
Technically, the verdict from Manfred that “permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual” covers all 16 of the deceased players (and one former team owner) on MLB’s permanently ineligible list. But for all intents and purposes, Manfred’s decision, and the timing of said decision, is entirely about opening a door to Cooperstown for Rose.
When Rose hung up his cleats in November 1986, induction into the Hall felt inevitable. That’s because his statistical accomplishments were staggering, overwhelming. His 4,256 hits still top the MLB record book. So do his 3,562 games played and his 15,890 plate appearances. Across 24 seasons, Rose made 17 All-Star teams, captured three batting titles, won the 1973 NL MVP and lifted three World Series trophies. Along the way, Rose’s edgy, unapologetic, all-out style of play earned him the nickname “Charlie Hustle” and made him a sporting hero to a generation of baseball fans.
Graded purely on sporting merit, there’s no debate that Rose’s résumé warrants inclusion in MLB’s hallowed halls. But even on-field greatness has its limits.
In March 1989, Rose was alleged to have bet on baseball while serving as player/manager of the Cincinnati Reds from 1985 to 1987. That saga, which unfurled amid a changeover in commissioner from Peter Ueberroth to A. Bartlett Giamatti, dominated the 1989 MLB season. In August of that year, Giamatti, following an MLB investigation into the gambling allegations and the resulting Dowd Report, announced that baseball’s hit king would be placed on MLB’s ineligible list and banned for life.
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