President Donald Trump has made it crystal clear: Baseball legend Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Trump met with Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred at the White House in April and later told associates that Manfred plans to posthumously remove Rose from MLB’s permanently ineligible list, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. (RELATED: ‘I Wish I Had An Interpreter’: MLB’s Banned-For-Life All-Time Hits Leader Weighs In On Ohtani Betting Scandal)
Rose, baseball’s all-time hit leader, was banned from the sport in 1989 for betting on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. He passed away in September at the age of 83, and his family has since renewed efforts to clear his name. They formally petitioned Manfred for reinstatement in January, following a meeting with him in December.
Trump voiced his support for Rose in a Truth Social post earlier this year, calling for a “complete pardon” and slamming the league for lacking “the courage or decency” to enshrine him in Cooperstown. “Pete Rose… shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING,” Trump wrote.
MLB Rule 21 bans players who bet on their own games, declaring them permanently ineligible. That status also blocks them from Hall of Fame consideration. In Rose’s case, the Hall implemented that policy in 1991, months before he would have appeared on the ballot.
Now, with Rose deceased, MLB may be reevaluating how the rule applies posthumously. The current interpretation among some insiders, according to the WSJ, is that the rule’s purpose — protecting the sport’s integrity — no longer applies once a person is no longer alive.
An MLB spokesperson confirmed that Rose was one of “many topics” discussed during Manfred’s meeting with Trump but declined to comment on the details. Manfred previously denied a reinstatement bid from Rose in 2015.
If Rose is removed from the ineligible list, he would still need 75% approval from the Hall of Fame’s 16-member Classic Era Committee to be inducted — and that group doesn’t meet again until December 2027. If successful, Rose would be honored in the summer of 2028.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
