Pete Rose, ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson among reinstated ex-baseball players

Major League Baseball has made a historic, and likely controversial, decision that involves two deceased players who have long been banned for gambling-related offenses.

As first reported by ESPN's Don Van Natta, MLB is reinstating former ballplayers Pete Rose and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, who are now both eligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. It's part of a ruling by commissioner Rob Manfred that permanent bans will end upon a former player's death. Rose died on Sept. 30, 2024 at age 83.

Manfred reportedly penned a letter addressed to Rose's attorney, Jeffrey M. Lenkov, who had previously petitioned for Rose's ban to be lifted in January.

"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 Jan. 8's letter read. "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."

^{"Shoeless" Joe Jackson, circa 1919}

This ruling also reinstates Jackson, who played 13 major league seasons from 1908-1920. He was banned from baseball for his involvement in the still-infamous "Black Sox" scandal, in which Jackson and seven other White Sox players accepted bribes to purposely lose the 1919 World Series. The Cinncinati Reds won the best-of-nine series 5-3. The scandal was depicted in the 1988 film, "Eight Men Out."

Rose was first banned from baseball in 1989, amid allegations that he had bet on baseball games. In 1991, then his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility, the Hall voted to put in writing that banned players were not eligible for enshrinement, although this was already an unwritten rule. Rose denied the allegations of betting on baseball for more than a decade, before finally admitting to it in 2004.

The rule will no doubt spark controversy in the baseball world, but it certainly doesn't mean that Rose or Jackson will automatically be inducted into the Hall of Fame. They would have to be voted in by the Era Committees, formerly known as the Veterans Committee. It wouldn't be surprising if the committees took a stand against players/managers gambling on games, anyway.

At the end of the day, this is Manfred saying to the families of deceased players, "They've been punished enough." Rose never got to experience the glory of enshrinement in the Hall of Fame himself. For Manfred, that's punishment enough.