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Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader, waited over 35 years to be reinstated from the league’s permanently ineligible list before passing away on September 30, 2024 at the age of 83. On Tuesday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred finally removed him, “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, and other deceased baseball players from the list.
“Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” ESPN reports Manfred wrote in a letter to attorney Jeffrey M. Lenkov, who petitioned for Rose’s removal from the list. “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.”
So, in other words, Rob Manfred was just waiting for Pete Rose to die before making him eligible to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Nice.
Rose, Jackson, who died in 1951, and 16 others including pitcher Eddie Cicotte, now become eligible to be enshrined into the Hall in the summer of 2028.
Pete Rose certainly put up numbers that are Hall of Fame worthy during his 24-year MLB career: 4,256 hits, 2,165 runs, and a .303 batting average. “Shoeless Joe” Jackson also certainly deserves entry into the Hall of Fame based on his statistics as well. He batted .356 over 13 seasons including an average of .395 in 1912 and .408 in 1911 while with the Cleveland Indians.
Jackson was part of the “Black Sox Scandal” that saw eight Chicago White Sox players banned from baseball for life. One of his teammates, Eddie Cicotte, also has a good case for being enshrined into the Hall of Fame. Over 14 years, he put up a 2.38 ERA with 209 wins on the mound.
Interestingly, this news about Pete Rose comes in the same week that the Cincinnati Reds will be hosting a Pete Rose Night at Great American Ball Park.