I’m not sure I understand. Why now?
Pete Rose passed away in September 2024, his lifelong effort to become if not the greatest baseball player ever, at least its hardest working, was a feat he accomplished in the eyes of many. Rose craved recognition for his efforts, especially later in life when they were repeatedly denied, not by the fans but by the sport which banned him.
During his lifetime, especially after news of the gambling scandal broke, Rose never fully received that distinction. Until now. You can almost hear him laughing last, exhaling one final sigh of relief months after he’d taken his last breath.
Now, dead and buried, an unquestionable legend, a name as synonymous with the game as any other, for better or for worse, Rose will be unable to personally experience what will likely be his eventual induction.
Again, I’m not sure I understand the decision nor the timing behind it. Personally, I’ve waffled for years over whether Rose belongs in the Hall. I fully understand both sides of the argument, along with how emotional people get over it. One thing I haven’t waffled on, however, is how baseball has handled all of this. The Rose and Jackson gambling scandals, the steroid era, the strikes, I could go on and on, and have, as some of my more regular readers who are still baseball fans will tell you. They blast me for blasting the sport, but I am simply calling a spade a spade, or more appropriately a diamond a diamond, no matter how flawed.

So why now? What changed? Why is baseball suddenly taking a softer stance on Rose and Jackson? Is it because gambling is now legal everywhere where in the past it was not?
No, the Commissioner’s reasoning is that Rose no longer poses a risk or threat to the integrity of the sport. Spare me if I don’t jump for joy at baseball’s change of mind, nor its continued hypocritical use of the i word.
The glass half full baseball fan recognizes this kinder, gentler, dare I say woke, stance as a way (and yes, I’ve suggested this in the past) for the sport to get itself back in the good graces of those it has alienated. I’m not sure baseball lost fans over the Rose ban, but more people probably believe he belongs in the Hall than not. The glass half empty baseball fan asks why now, potentially recognizing this move as self-serving, or even, a forced hand.
Multiple reports claim that President Trump met with Commissioner Rob Manfred and suggested lifting Rose’s lifetime ban, making him eligible for Cooperstown. Subsequently, Manfred dissected the phrase “permanently ineligible,” a Trumpian loophole, implying that since Rose is no longer with us, he no longer poses a risk to the sport’s integrity.
“I have concluded,” wrote Manfred, “that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list.” In other words, you’re dead. Let’s party. Sincerely, Commish.
If that’s so, how does one explain why we are only now including Joe Jackson… who passed away in 1951?!?
Do you know how long we baseball fans have been discussing and debating the Shoeless Joe Jackson ban? For over a hundred fucking years. Jackson was banned in 1920 after allegedly participating in the fixing of the 1919 World Series. There have been multiple movies made about Jackson and even the movies are old.

So now, 100 years later, we’re finally giving Jackson and Rose a pass? Again, I’m fine with it. Since we’re hugging it out kumbaya-style, I also think baseball should ease its stance on Clemens, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro and all those others its shunned. It’s well past time for all of us to get along. But we know they’ll take their sweet time, or maybe just wait until those guys are dead and no longer posing a “threat” so we can celebrate their contributions then. We can call is séance week at Cooperstown.
I guess I’m just trying to figure out the timing and the reasoning behind all this, for nothing I’ve read makes any sense.
I understand that nobody has just said no to Donald Trump, not that he’d take it for an answer anyway but what if, in an alternate universe, Trump told Manfred to reinstate Rose and Manfred declined? Then what? A presidential war between the POTUS and our pastime? Now that’s a spat I’d like to see. He’s already had run-ins with the NBA and NFL? Why not MLB for the trifecta?
Furthermore, if players are voted in by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, and Rose retired from playing baseball in 1986, how many of those sportswriters actually saw him play? But I digress. I’ll stop making sense soon enough.
This decision has been a long time in the making and will finally put an end, or at least reconfigure, one of the greatest debates in sports history. For decades, the Rose estate has been vigilant in their efforts to get Hustle into the Hall. I’m not sure how many descendants of Joe Jackson have been equally as active. That’s a long time fighting for a worthwhile cause, but I’m sure somewhere along the line D.B. Sweeney and Ray Liotta have picked up a picket sign.
We haven’t heard the last of this as the Rose and Jackson inductions won’t be voted on until 2027.
In this cloudy mess that’s gone on for well over a century, one thing is for certain. When Rose finally gets enshrined, and he will, tickets to that afternoon in Cooperstown will be as coveted as any before and the area will be happily, perhaps even justifiably, awash in a sea of red.
Saw him and the Big Red machine playing spring training games at the old Al Lopez Field (now underneath Ray Jay).. in the late 60s. Pretty amazing!
I think they are doing it to get people to even talk about a sport that is as boring and dead as Rose and Jackson!
You’re right that the timing makes no sense. Of course his career should get Pete Rose in, but then there is his character. Bet on baseball while being a player-manager, lied about betting on baseball. Had sex with a 14 yo girl because she claimed to be 16 (the age of consent in Ohio) when he was 32, and married with kids. I know that the only official rule that he broke was the gambling one, but he was an awful person, and I hope that he never gets elected.
Here’s the only thing I can think of…Manfred and the Hall of Fame want to do two things.
1) Begin the process of getting rid of the phony moralizing by getting to a “general amnesty.” You give me Pete Rose, and I’ll give you the steroid guys. Baseball and the HOF know they can’t have the all-time hits leader and the all-time home run leader not in Cooperstown. “Shoeless” Joe should have never been banned because he was found not guilty in court…kinda like Barry Bonds, but I digress.
2) The HOF knows they have to fix their induction process, but they have no idea what to do. Neither does MLB. But this gives both of them the “at least we’re doing something” routine.
Charlie Hustle……….You Bet!