MLB Reinstates Pete Rose and Joe Jackson Despite Old Betting Scandals

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred reinstated Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, two of the game’s most well-known figures, which makes them both eligible for the sport’s Hall of Fame, stating a player’s death means they no longer represent a threat to the integrity of the game.

Commissioner Reinstates Pete Rose

Both legendary players had their reputations tarnished by scandals relating to betting on the sport, which had put them on Major League Baseball’s permanent ineligibility list. However, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred lifted Rose’s ban eight months after he died in September of 2024.

In Manfred’s view, once an individual has passed away, the purposes of Rule 21 have been served. He stated that a dead person can no longer pose a threat to the integrity of the game. Furthermore, he emphasized that it is hard to imagine a penalty with a greater deterring effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve.

Rose holds the Major League Baseball records for most games played, 3,562, and most hits, 4,256. However, this did not save him from the betting scandal that was about to follow.

After transitioning to a managerial career, MLB announced in the spring of 1989 that it was investigating Rose for gambling. Among the allegations was that he had bet on baseball games involving teams he either played for or managed. Rose later admitted to wagering on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds and revealed in a 2007 radio interview that he bet on every Reds game during his time as manager.

In the final years of his life, Rose made several attempts to be reinstated by the league and to become eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame. He sought reinstatement in 2015 and 2020 but was denied both times. However, after he died, the MLB started discussing reinstating Rose after President Trump said that he would issue a pardon for the athlete.

Legendary Player Shoeless Joe Jackson Is Also Acquitted

Manfred’s decision, which means players’ permanent ineligibility would expire at death, also means 17 individuals had their status changed. Among them is legendary player Shoeless Joe Jackson, who was a member of the Chicago White Sox. He was accused of conspiring with gamblers to deliberately throw the 1919 World Series.

The Black Sox Scandal remains one of the most notorious events in baseball history, and Jackson, along with seven of his teammates, was permanently banned from MLB by then-commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. In 1921, a Chicago jury found Jackson and his seven teammates not guilty of any wrongdoing.

Despite this, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the newly appointed baseball commissioner, issued a lifetime ban on all eight players. However, to his death, Jackson denied ever gambling on the World Series.