Major League Baseball ends lifetime bans for Pete Rose, 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Tue 13 May 2025 16.11 EDT
Last modified on Tue 13 May 2025 16.18 EDT


Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Tuesday that Pete Rose, ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson and other deceased players have been removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list. The decision clears the path for the sport’s all-time hits leader and the storied Chicago White Sox star to be considered for the Hall of Fame.

Manfred ruled that MLB’s punishment of banned individuals ends upon their death. “Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred wrote in a letter to attorney Jeffrey M Lenkov, who petitioned for Rose’s removal in January. ESPN was first to report the news of the commissioner’s historic decision.

Rose accepted his ban in 1989 after an MLB investigation found he bet on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. Jackson and seven other White Sox players were banned for life in 1921 for allegedly fixing the 1919 World Series. Rose died in September 2024 at age 83; Jackson passed away in 1951.

The ruling also removes 16 other deceased players and one deceased owner from MLB’s banned list, including Jackson’s former teammates Eddie Cicotte and George ‘Buck’ Weaver. Rose and Jackson are now eligible for the Hall of Fame, with their cases expected to be reviewed by the Classic Baseball Era Committee in December 2027. Both would need 12 of 16 votes for induction, meaning the earliest possible enshrinement would be summer 2028.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/may/13/pete-rose-lifetime-ban-lifted-cooperstown

---

Just breaking.

[marble falls]

1. No Hall of Fame for Pete.

[Balatro]

14. I am mixed on this topic.

I mean, the punishment was deserved for his behavior as a manager and for the rest of his life. But he was a true legend as a player. In my humble opinion, I think his time was served for his crimes against baseball in regards to induction, since he's dead now.

[Bok_Tukalo]

2. Sure. Why not? Nothing matters.

[elocs]

27. It won't matter in the least bit to Rose. n/t

[twodogsbarking]

3. Good grief. Got more rules than Catholic schools.

[unblock]

4. lol. They can't hurt the integrity of the game once they're gone?

So let's honor the records they held while they were cheating or fixing games or otherwise hurting the integrity of the game?

Whatever.

The game is and has been rife with substances like steroids and various sticky goo applied to pitched balls, so any discussion about the "integrity" of the game should be taken with a grain of salt...

[angrychair]

5. Cheaters

Should not prosper, in life or after their death.

[elocs]

28. Cheaters are not prospering after their deaths because, well, they're dead. n/t

[angrychair]

36. They will, indirectly

By white washing their image and allowing them to be eligible to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, they are creating potential wealth and name recognition for those respective families and those that would profit from a their memorabilia. So this erasing of history is very much about their prosperity and how they are viewed by people in our future.

[elocs]

38. My point being, and it's sad I need to explain it, they are DEAD. n/t

[angrychair]

39. Yes, obviously

But this action will allow people to profit, both directly and indirectly, from this action.
These people are the worst their sport has to offer.

[ShazzieB]

41. Yes, other people will profit.

I think that's the point elocs was making; other prople, not the cheaters (Rose and Jackson) themselves.

I'm not enough of a baseball fan to have a strong opinion about the ban being lifted. But I don't have a problem with somebody making money by selling something other people want to own. Capitalism's crimes are many, and that doesn't even make the top 10,000, afaic.

[maxsolomon]

6. As a Cincinnati Native, let me say:

I never thought I'd see this.

Bart Giamatti's rolling in his grave. Fay Vincent too.

[appmanga]

7. I felt this was coming after Rose's death...

...and MLB couldn't do it for him without doing it for others.

I'm ambivalent about the idea of Rose finally getting into the Hall of Fame, which is what this is all about. It's long been argued that the Hall is already littered with racists, wife-beaters, and criminals. Gambling on baseball as a participant was, and remains, and bad thing, even while baseball and the other major sports embrace sports betting as if it's the greatest thing since sex.

As someone else has mentioned, should some allowance for the steroids users? I'm more offended by that than the charges against Rose and Jackson.

I grew up a Mets fan, but Rose was still my favorite player. Maybe this new decision will make current and future players consider what's happened to him, as a cautionary tale.

[Tarzanrock]

8. Fuck Pete Rose!

Signed: Ray Fosse.

[gopiscrap]

10. ha ha that's pretty funny

I remember that incident

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

11. Don't stand on the baseline, dimwit!

Signed: Pete Rose

A good rule: If you're going to block home plate, be sure you're much bigger than the guy running at you full speed.

[Tarzanrock]

12. "If I had played my career hitting singles like Pete Rose, I'd wear a dress"

Signed: Mickey Mantle

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. Mantle? Are you sure you're not quoting Dennis Rodman (Trump ambassador to NK)

[jmowreader]

16. Dennis Rodman was always a terrible hitter

[Blackjackdavey]

9. Unless the veteran's comittee

Is also tainted by Trump, I see no reason for them to jump at the chance to elect Rose while Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are not in the HOF. They'd basically be deciding the case for all three at once and that would be a radical shift for a pretty conservative institution.

[Tarzanrock]

15. "Mr. Trump. Please make America Great Again. Pete Rose"

Illegal betting on baseball; illicit gambling on professional baseball games in which he was the team manager and could manipulate the players and the scoring; lying and perjury in depositions; convictions of felony tax evasion; credible allegations of statutory rape of a girl not yet 16 years of age; and, a Turd supporter -- see the baseball Rose autographed and gave to the Turd stating: "Mr. Trump. Please make America Great Again. Pete Rose" Google it.

[jmowreader]

17. I doubt Pete Rose will actually get elected

The committees work off a "whole man" principle. There's no question what Pete Rose could do on the field, but off the field he was a walking disaster.

They're more likely to put Curt Schilling in the Hall of Fame, and Schilling isn't going in either.

On the other hand, I feel good about Shoeless Joe Jackson's chances. He may be the only one of the recently-reinstated crew to get in.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. Regarding this

There's no question what Pete Rose could do on the field, but off the field he was a walking disaster.

They're more likely to put Curt Schilling in the Hall of Fame, and Schilling isn't going in either.

On the other hand, I feel good about Shoeless Joe Jackson's chances. He may be the only one of the recently-reinstated crew to get in.

All 3 played on some Philadelphia team (Jackson played on the As here before the team eventually moved to Oakland - my mom was an old As fan and never liked the Phillies)!

[H2O Man]

19. Recommended.

I remember reading Jim Bouton's classic "Ball Four" fifty-five years ago. Baseball has always been unblemished until Pete Rose stained it. Darn him! It's better that we never admit that he was a great player we all loved to watch.

[Jack Valentino]

20. Well... at this point in time, I agree with all that. They both have paid a high price.

And when you can run for and be elected President after being convicted of felonies,
having bet upon baseball games seems like 'pretty small potatoes', no ??

[red dog 1]

21. I think a manager betting on games is worse than a player taking steroids, although I don't condone that either.

Barry Bonds won three well-deserved MVP Awards (1990, 1992, 1993), five years before he started taking steroids in 1998.

However, in his ten years of eligibility for the Hall of Fame (2013-2022), he fell short of the 75% of the votes needed for induction.
(In 2022, he got 66% of the votes required)

IMHO, Bonds deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, despite the BALCO scandal and his subsequent conviction (later overturned on appeal)

In 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig postponed all games through September 16.
When MLB games were resumed on September 17, 2001, Barry Bonds resumed his chase of Mark McGuire's home run record of 70 and broke the record on October 7 by hitting his 73rd home run.
In doing so, Barry Bonds did more to help America get over the widespread grief from the 9/11 attacks than anyone, imo.
For that alone, he should be in the Hall of Fame.

[AdamGG]

22. Always wondered if Giamatti had evidence that Rose bet against the Reds

while managing the team. He probably wouldn't have banned the all time hits leader, who clearly was first ballot HOF for what he did on the field, without pretty damning evidence. And then Giamatti died not long afterward.

I'd take Rose in the hall before Bonds and McGwire and Clemens and other steroid era players, though there was a time when a pretty high percentage of high performance players may have been using performance enhancing drugs.

[Roricka]

23. A little shoeless joe history

Very briefly, some support for Jackson. If you study this, you'll learn quite a few things in Shoeless's favor are fairly well established.
1. He played like the superstar he was in the 1919 world series (the stats are remarkable and include records that stood for years)
2. He said he didn't want the $5,000 that was left in his room and reported the bribe to his superior at the White Sox (owner Comiskey, a notorious skinflint, acted to suppress news of what was occurring until blame could be shifted to the players, especially Jackson.)
3. Although it is true that spending the money was ethically dubious, Jackson was encouraged to do so by crooks and there were never recriminations because of Jackson's series performance.
4. He was formally acquited of felony conspiracy in a court of law.
5. He was functionally illiterate and lied to by people who had an interest in Joe Jackson being the ultimate fall-guy.

[Skittles]

31. interesting first post

I remember an old bf baseball history fanatic from way back who was a Shoeless Joe fan, thought he got a raw deal.

Welcome to DU

[LetMyPeopleVote]

40. Welcome to DU

[BadgerMom]

24. Trump wanted this. And MLB made it happen.

Those optics make me hate this. I want him to keep his criminal orange face out of arenas in which he really doesn’t have a role.

https://www.wsj.com/sports/baseball/trump-pete-rose-hall-of-fame-rob-manfred-a303e497

[BumRushDaShow]

26. That was my first thought

when 45 made a big fuss out of it but then the story fell out of the news cycle.

And note that before he ever got into politics, he was an "entertainer" (aside from the nonsense of "real estate" mogul) and that included "sports" stuff (mostly wrestling and boxing).

[Godot51]

25. Guilt

Having been found guilty does not end after death.

Will Hitler be given a pass now that he is safely dead? How about Jack the Ripper?

If there was or is some evidence to prove their innocence then they may be forgiven, not otherwise. In fact, new evidence is always welcome.

Soon enough a drumpf pardon or a large enough payment will suffice to clear records.

[elocs]

29. Here in WI I became a Reds fan in '63 when I was just 11.

My family moved into a new neighborhood so I told the guys that my uncle played for the Reds (same last name), a mid level player and they believed me (we were a naive bunch back then) until I fessed up some 15 years later and some were shocked. But those were great years to be a Reds fan.
Rose was a great and fiercely competitive player, but he's dead now so I don't think it makes any difference now. Myself, I don't care anymore. I don't think he would bet against his own team in any way though.

[BumRushDaShow]

30. Right when I read your post

I was listening to our local Philly news radio station and they were doing a report on this (with some clips of locals discussing it). Rose was on the Phillies 1980 World Series team.



They were going to put Rose on the "Wall of Fame" here in 2017 but then pulled that after the underage sex scandal happened. He did appear in 2022 at the pandemic-delayed 40th anniversary commemoration of the Phillies World Series at the team's "Wall of Fame" celebration.

[retread]

32. If Rose is inducted will the ceremony be sponsered by DraftKings?

[Brainfodder]

33. Kinda over when they pass away?

Let's try and make watching other people exercise for a lot of $ cool again?


Fun take:
Tickets, parking, food, & drinks at people thinking they so cool over paying for stuff and actually showing up in person to be seen doing it?

[malthaussen]

34. Why not. 'Tis the zeitgeist of the time to pardon everyone. n/t

[Borogove]

35. Since corruption is now back in fashion, this makes perfect sense.

[FSogol]

37. Well, MLB has deals with gambling interests. They can't have it both ways. n/t

[DiverDave]

42. Cheaters never

Prosper...oh, wait.
It's bullshit, but cheating is the norm now.