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The Major League Baseball commissioner, Rob Manfred, has officially lifted the ban on Pete Rose and all other deceased players on MLB's permanently ineligible list.
Rose's attorney, Jeffrey M. Lenkov, officially petitioned for Rose's reinstatement in January of this year. Today, Manfred declared that players will be removed from the league's permanently ineligible list after they pass away.
"Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game," Manfred wrote in a letter to Lenkov, per ESPN's Don van Natta Jr. "Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve.
"Therefore, I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list."
Rose is the all-time hit leader. He collected 4,265 career hits in his 24-year career. 19 over those years came with the Cincinnati Reds. Rose was a 17-time All-Star, MVP Award winner, Silver Slugger, three-time batting champion, three-time World Series champion and one-time World Series MVP. However, his involvement in gambling landed him on the permanently ineligible list.
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Rose was banned in 1989 for allegations that he was betting on games while he was manager of the Reds. In 1991, shortly before Rose was eligible for the Hall of Fame, the Hall's board determined that players on the permanently ineligible list would not be eligible for election. The ruling was coined "the Pete Rose rule." However, Manfred noted in his letter to Lenkov that Rose was not placed on the list by "Commissioner action."
"While it is my preference not to disturb decisions made by prior Commissioners, Mr. Rose was not placed on the permanently ineligible list by Commissioner action but rather as the result of a 1989 settlement of potential litigation with the Commissioner's Office," wrote Manfred. "My decision today is consistent with Commissioner Giamatti's expectations of that agreement."
Rose is not the only legend now eligible for the Hall of Fame. "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and other members of the 1919 White Sox team, who were banned for fixing the contest, are also now eligible.
"Based on current rules for players who last played more than 15 years ago, it appears the earliest Rose and Jackson could be enshrined is summer 2028 if they are elected," wrote van Natta Jr.
It is now in the hands of voters to decide if Pete Rose will have his career ernished in Cooperstown.
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