MLB reinstates Pete Rose and Joe Jackson

Some of baseball’s greatest stories passed from generation to generation include Joe Jackson in the 1919 World Series and the “Hit King” Pete Rose.

How they were some of the best that the game has ever seen, yet they will never be enshrined in baseball’s greatest museum: the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Never say never.

Over 30 years after it was first implemented, Major League Baseball’s commissioner, Rob Manfred, has reversed what has become known as the “Pete Rose Rule,” making the two eligible for the Hall of Fame.

The rule stated that no player on MLB’s permanently ineligible list is eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame. The change made by Manfred now states that the punishment for those who have been banned ends at that person’s death.

This change comes eight months after Rose died at 83 this past September.

“Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred said in a letter to Jeffrey Lenkov, one of Rose’s attorneys.

Lenkov had been working for nearly a decade to have Rose reinstated. In December 2024, Lenkov and Rose’s daughter, Fawn, submitted an appeal to Manfred to have MLB’s all-time hits leader be forgiven.

Manfred clearly had a change of heart. The commissioner met with Rose in 2015 when he appealed for reinstatement. In that meeting, Rose admitted that he still bet on baseball.

Manfred denied Rose’s appeal and wrote in a statement, “Mr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life either by an honest acceptance by him of his wrongdoing… that led to his permanent eligibility in 1989. I, therefore, must reject Mr. Rose’s application for reinstatement.”

Even for those not on MLB’s permanently ineligible list, the integrity of the game is one thing that those from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America must consider when voting for Hall of Fame inductees.

Rule No. 5 of the BBWAA’s “Rules for Election” states that “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”

Rose was officially banned from baseball by then-commissioner A. Bart Giamatti on August 24, 1989. After years of denying it, Rose publicly admitted that he had confessed to then-commissioner Bud Selig that he was guilty of betting on baseball.

Across his 24-year career, which included being baseball’s last player-manager, Rose totaled 4,256 hits, the most in MLB history, won three World Series titles and was named the 1973 National League Most Valuable Player.

Of course, “Charlie Hustle” wasn’t the first player banned from baseball for their involvement in gambling. That would belong to “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who was suspended in 1921 with seven others for throwing the 1919 World Series. You may know them as the “Eight Men Out.”

Jackson and the others were accused of purposely losing the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for $5,000 each from Arnold Rothstein.

While Jackson did admit to taking the money, many have argued for years that he was not aware of what he was doing because he was illiterate. As Kevin Costner’s character, Ray Kinsella, pointed out in the 1989 film Field of Dreams, Jackson hit .375, didn’t commit a single error, and hit the only home run in the series.

Jackson finished his 13-year career with a .356 batting average, the fourth-highest in baseball history behind only Ty Cobb (.366), Oscar Charleston (.365) and Rogers Hornsby (.359).

The actions of the eight White Sox players and their suspension by Kenesaw Mountain Landis led to the establishment of MLB Rule 21.

Section “A” of this rule relates to misconduct in playing, stating that, “Any player or person connected with a Club who shall promise or agree to lose, or attempt to lose, or to fail to give his best efforts towards the winning of any baseball game with which he is or may be in any way concerned, or who shall intentionally lose or attempt to lose…shall be declared permanently ineligible.

What’s interesting about Rule 21 is that most forget a rule that suspends players for only one year for betting on baseball.

Section “D” subsection “1” of the rule states, “Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year.”

So, in reality, Rose could’ve bet on baseball if he really wanted to and possibly face only a one-year suspension. Rose could’ve bet on a game between the Yankees and Royals if he wanted to. If he were caught, he would only be suspended for a year.

In fact, it’s rumored that’s what Giamatti tried to do. Giamatti offered Rose a one-year suspension in exchange for admitting to betting, and showing a willingness to change. Of course, Rose declined. Giamatti denies any such deal.

Therefore, he had to suffer the consequences of section “D” subsection “2” of Rule 21 which states, “Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.”

Rose and Jackson will be eligible to appear on the Classic Baseball Era Committee ballot in December 2027. They will be required to receive 12 of 16 votes to be inducted. If they are, the earliest they can be enshrined in Cooperstown is the summer of 2028.

Daniel Studer is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email dbs5866@psu.edu.