Reinstate Pete Rose? Hell, no!

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is considering a petition for the posthumous removal of Pete Rose from baseball’s ineligible list. Rose’s estate filed the petition in January, although the report came to light only recently. As recently as July 2023, Manfred told Ronald Blum of Associated Press he had no intention of ever lifting the ban. “Pete Rose violated what is sort of rule one in baseball, and the consequences of that are clear in the rule, and we’ve continued to abide by our own rules,” Manfred said at the time.

Manfred should reject this petition out of hand. With baseball now rumored to be subject to a work stoppage after the 2026 season, Manfred has more important matters deserving of his attention.

So here we go. The views expressed here are my own. They don’t necessarily represent the views of Through the Fence Baseball or anybody connected therewith.

The hit king

Rose, as the reader is surely aware, is baseball’s all-time hits leader with 4,256 to his credit. He passed Ty Cobb, who is officially credited with 4,189 hits, in 1985 while a player/manager for the Cincinnati Reds. For his career, Rose slashed .303/.375/.409. He won three National League batting titles and had 10 seasons in which he had at least 200 hits. Nicknamed “Charlie Hustle,” the switch-hitter played the game hard. You liked him if he played for your team. You hated him if he didn’t.

Rule 21

Major League Rule 21 provides, in subparagraph (d)(2), provides, “Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.” Subparagraph (g) states, “A printed copy in English and Spanish of this Rule 21 shall be kept posted in each clubhouse.”

In 1989, by which time Rose was strictly a manager for the Reds, he was investigated by Major League Baseball for betting on baseball games. Baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti engaged attorney John Dowd to investigate the claims. What came to be known as The Dowd Report documented Rose’s alleged gambling on baseball games in 1987, including 52 games involving the Reds. The investigation found no evidence that Rose ever bet on his team to lose. Even so, those bets were in direct violation of Rule 21. After negotiations with MLB in 1989, Rose accepted a permanent ban from MLB. Consequently, he was never eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame.

That wasn’t the end of Rose’s problems. In 1990, he entered a guilty plea on two charges for failure to report income from gambling winnings and sales of his autograph and memorabilia on his tax returns. This resulted in a five-month prison sentence and a fine.

Reinstate Rose?

Let’s look at the common arguments often put forth to support the premise that Rose’s lifetime ban should be lifted. Then let’s shoot them down.

He only bet on the Reds to win

Although The Dowd Report found no evidence that Rose ever bet on the Reds to lose, Dowd personally believed Rose had done that very thing. But let’s go with the evidence and assume Rose only bet on the Reds to win. What about the times when Rose didn’t bet on the Reds at all? Wasn’t he essentially betting on them to lose? Might he have, say, saved his best relief pitchers for the games where he bet on the Reds to win? There are too many questions and too many possibilities. That’s the reason for an absolute ban from baseball for betting of any kind on baseball games in which the bettor participates.

Baseball has plenty of “characters” who it’s never banned

When I was a kid growing up in Pittsburgh, Dad warned me against hanging out with “characters.” It seems like a good choice of words here that should keep me out of trouble.

Baseball does have policies in place against performance-enhancing drugs and domestic abuse that result in players being suspended and welcomed back to the game at the end of their suspensions. Additionally, I recall players who have done jail time without being banned from the game. There was Gates Brown, who was arrested and convicted of burglary when he was 18, before the Detroit Tigers signed him. There was Dickie Noles, arrested for assaulting a police officer while drunk and a member of the Chicago Cubs. (Each turned his life around without further incident.)

However, none of these things attack the integrity of the game as gambling does. Baseball – and all sports – have two things to sell to the public: first, the games are on the level and second, each team has an equal chance to win. (The latter is undermined by MLB’s silly economic system, despite being blithely ignored by the commissioner and the players association, but that’s a different subject.)

He’s Pete Rose, damn it!

So there should be a different set of rules for Rose than for, say, Tucupita Marcano, because . . . why? Because Rose was a great player? Because he was more famous? Or because he made more money? Can’t think of a good reason? Me neither.

Trump jumps in

Entering the fray last Friday was President Donald Trump, who never met a news story he didn’t like as long as he’s its focal point in a positive way, more so if it distracts the public from things like the disastrous White House meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or the reeling stock market.

Without going into specifics, Trump announced he would be issuing a pardon for Rose. Seemingly unaware of the reason Rose was in prison in the first place, Trump posted on Truth Social, “He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history.” (Fact check: When Rose bet on the Reds, he did indeed bet against the other team. That’s how gambling works.)

Shed no tears

I used to tell my kids, “If I tell you you’re going to be grounded for _______, and you _______ anyway, then you’re the one who decided you were going to be grounded, not me.” Similarly, Rose knew Rule 21 going in. It was posted in every major league clubhouse in English and Spanish. Rose could read English. By gambling on games involving the Reds while he was their manager, he’s the one who decided he was going to be banned from the game. Not Giamatti. Not anybody else. Shed no tears.

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