by WorldTribune Staff, May 14, 2025 Real World News
Commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday removed Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson from Major League Baseball's permanently ineligible list.
Now Rose, MLB's all-time leader in hits with 4,256, and Jackson, fourth on the all-time list for highest career batting average at .356, are eligible to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Manfred ruled that MLB's punishment of banned individuals ends upon their deaths.
Rose died on Sept. 30, 2024 at age 83.
Jackson passed away on Dec. 5, 1951 at age 64.
"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 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."
Manfred continued: "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."
Manfred's decision ends the ban that Rose accepted from then-Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in August 1989, following an MLB investigation that determined the 17-time All-Star had bet on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds.
Jackson and seven other Chicago White Sox were banned from playing professional baseball in 1921 by MLB's first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, for fixing the 1919 World Series.
Manfred's ruling removes a total of 16 deceased players and one deceased owner from MLB's banned list, a group that includes Jackson's teammates, ace pitcher Eddie Cicotte and third baseman George "Buck" Weaver.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump announced he planned to posthumously pardon Rose. "Over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn't have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING," Trump wrote on social media Feb. 28.
During an Oval Office meeting on April 16, Trump and Manfred discussed Rose's posthumous petition for reinstatement, among other topics. Manfred later declined to discuss details of their conversation.
On Tuesday, Manfred called Trump, who was on a state trip in Saudi Arabia, about his ruling, multiple sources told ESPN.
Players/coaches/owners on MLB's banned list:
• Joe Jackson (1919 Black Sox scandal)
• Buck Weaver (Black Sox)
• Eddie Cicotte (Black Sox)
• Lefty Williams (Black Sox)
• Happy Felsch (Black Sox)
• Fred McMullin (Black Sox)
• Swede Risberg (Black Sox)
• Chick Gandil (Black Sox)
• Joe Gedeon (Had "guilty knowledge" of gambling activity in 1919)
• Gene Paulette (Banned in 1920 for associating with gamblers in 1919)
• Benny Kauff (Banned in 1921 despite his acquittal on auto theft charge. Commissioner Landis deemed him "no longer a fit companion for other ballplayers."
• Lee Magee (Banned in 1921 over his disputed back salary elicited evidence of his gambling involvement)
• Shufflin' Phil Douglas (New York Giants player banned after threatening his manager)
• Jimmy O'Connell (Giants player banned in 1924 after offering a bribe to another player)
• Cozy Dolan (Giants coach involved in the O'Connell incident)
• William Cox (Phillies' owner, banned and forced to sell the team in 1943 for betting on baseball)
• Pete Rose (Bet on baseball)
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