Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson were reinstated by baseball commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday, making both eligible for the sport's Hall of Fame after their careers were tarnished by sports gambling scandals. Manfred announced Tuesday that he was changing the league's policy on permanent ineligibility, saying bans would expire at death, the AP reports. MLB said 17 individuals had their status changed by the decision, including all eight banned members of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox, former Philadelphia Phillies president Williams D. Cox and former New York Giants outfielder Benny Kauff.
Under the Hall of Fame's current rules, the earliest Rose or Jackson could be inducted would be in 2028.
- Rose's permanent ban was lifted eight months after his death and came a day before the Cincinnati Reds will honor baseball's career hits leader with Pete Rose Night. Rose agreed to a permanent ban on Aug. 23, 1989, following an investigation commissioned by Major League Baseball that concluded Rose repeatedly bet on the Reds as a player and as manager of the team from 1985-87, a violation of a long-standing MLB rule.
- Jackson was a .356 career hitter, the fourth highest in in MLB history, who was among the eight Black Sox banned for throwing the 1919 World Series. He died in 1951, but he remains one of baseball's most recognizable names.
- In a letter to Lenkov, a lawyer who sought to reinstate Rose, Manfred said that in his view, the purpose of "permanent ineligibility" in MLB's Rule 21 had been served once an individual has passed away. "Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game," he wrote. "Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve."
- Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement that players affected by Manfred's ruling Tuesday would be considered. ESPN reports that the candidacies of Rose and Jackson will likely be considered by the Hall's Classic Baseball Era Committee, which isn't scheduled to meet again until December 2027.
(Earlier this year, President Trump
said he would pardon Rose.)
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