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It was a shock to the baseball world when MLB‘s career hits leader Pete Rose was banned from the game he loved while managing the Cincinnati Reds. Of course, this lifetime ban came as a result of him betting on Reds games (on the Reds) while managing the team.
That ban began in 1989, and despite several attempts to get back into the game that put him in the public eye, MLB has not allowed Rose back into the game. While he hasn’t been reinstated yet, he took a huge first step toward that as new commissioner Rob Manfred said he will be allowed to take part in All-Star Game festivities in Cincinnati this summer.
It’s worth noting that if Manfred didn’t allow him to take part in festivities in the city he played most of his career, it would likely mark the end of any chance Rose had of being enshrined in the Hall of Fame during his lifetime. Manfred just took over the position and Rose is 74 years old.
While Rose has been allowed back into baseball on a limited capacity on two occasions (as part of an All-Century Team celebration during the 1999 World Series and in 2013 to recognize the Big Red Machine teams), this time is more significant. It is more significant because a brand new commissioner is the one allowing him to take part.
With a new commissioner comes new policies, and Manfred has left the door open to Rose making a return to baseball. If he’s allowed back, he likely would only serve an advisory role on a team (not on the field), but it would open the door for him to be enshrined in the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
If his lifetime ban was overturned, the Hall of Fame itself would also have to approve his potential enshrinement. With 4,256 hits, Rose has more base knocks than any other player in the history of baseball. Without him, baseball’s Hall of Fame seems like it’s missing something.
