Seattle (AP) Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred stated that the sport’s sponsorship agreements with gaming companies have no bearing on Pete Rose’s career hits leader status and that he has no plans to modify his lifetime ban from the game.
In 1989, Rose consented to a lifetime ban following an investigation conducted on behalf of Major League Baseball by attorney John Dowd, which revealed that Rose had repeatedly wagered on the Cincinnati Reds to win between 1985 and 1987 while managing and playing for the team.
In 1991, the board of the Hall of Fame made the decision that athletes on the list of ineligible players would not be allowed to vote for the Hall of Fame. In 2016, Rose requested a rule change from the Hall.
Rose met with Commissioner Bud Selig in 2002 after submitting an application for reinstatement in 1997, but Selig never made a decision regarding Rose’s case. In 2015, Manfred took over for Selig and turned down Rose’s application.
Manfred said to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Tuesday, “We’ve always approached the issue of gambling from the proposition that players and other people who are in a position to influence the outcome of the game are going to be subject to a different set of rules than everyone else in the world.”
