Reds celebrate ‘Pete Rose Night’ after MLB all-time hits leader’s removal from ineligible list

The Reds retired Rose’s No. 14 with MLB’s blessing in 2016, as part of a softening relationship between the league and player during the later years of Rose’s life. He lived much of his retired life as a baseball pariah, spending much of his time in casinos and at autograph conventions.

Advertisement

Wednesday saw a full reversal of that status, with thousands of fans cheering for the man who accepted a permanent ban from the game in 1989 in the face of overwhelming evidence that he bet on the Reds while managing them in the late 1980s, then had his legacy further clouded by a tax evasion conviction and statutory rape allegations.

Manfred’s decision was largely treated as a vindication for Rose’s legacy, with the commissioner presenting it as a merciful act eight months after the man’s death (and two months after President Donald Trump made very clear he wanted it done). The next step for Rose would be Cooperstown enshrinement, though it’s still unclear how that side of the equation will work out.

Will Pete Rose actually make the Hall of Fame?

When discussing how Rose’s removal from the ineligible list clears the way for him to enter the Hall of Fame, it’s important to remember he was off the ballot because the Hall of Fame unanimously voted for a rule to explicitly ban ineligible-list players right before his turn was to come up.

Advertisement

The Hall of Fame did not want to make a plaque for Rose in 1991, and Rose’s current candidacy entirely depends on how much that stance has softened among the 16-member Classic Baseball Era Committee.

Rose certainly did nothing to help himself while he was out of the sport, as he missed his best chance to come off the ineligible list when Bud Selig made him an offer reportedly contingent on his coming clean. Rose did finally admit to betting on baseball as Reds manager in 2004 and even started apologizing a few years later, but there is physical evidence that he went to his grave lying about making bets as a player.

And that’s just the matter of Rose’s betting. There’s also the fact that one of his bats, used in 1985 while he was in pursuit of Ty Cobb’s hits record, was found to contain telltale signs of corking in 2010, with another guy later coming forward to say he did bat-corking for Rose.

Advertisement

Then there are the truly heinous allegations raised by former Rose investigator John Dowd. Dowd alleged in a 2015 interview that Rose committed statutory rape with 12-to-14-year-old girls provided by a memorabilia dealer at spring training in the 1970s, when Rose was a married father of two in his 30s.

Rose sued for defamation, and Dowd’s legal team responded with a sworn statement from a woman who said she had a consensual relationship with Rose in Ohio when she was younger than 16 years old. That fallout saw Rose fired from his job at Fox Sports, and the defamation lawsuit was later dismissed with prejudice after the two sides reached an agreement. Years later, Rose didn’t deny the allegations so much as express annoyance that they were brought up.

For years, Rose’s case has been presented as a matter of how much grace MLB was willing to give him, but his being eligible for the Hall of Fame could mean reckoning with some aspects of his character that came to light well after his ban. Going forward, a certain 12 out of 16 people will need to be convinced that he really is worthy of the Hall of Fame.