April marks the 82nd birthday of baseball’s all-time career hits leader, and it has been nearly 35 years since Pete Rose was permanently barred from the game by former commissioner Bart Giamatti for breaking Major League Rule 21—gambling on the national pastime.
Charlie Hustle’s lifetime ban remains in effect, despite the fact that Rose has repeatedly apologized for his baseball transgressions and finally acknowledged in his 2004 book, “My Prison Without Bars,” that he wagered on baseball games during his time as a player and manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Rose asked to be reinstated once more in a letter to current commissioner Rob Manfred in November.
However, despite a recent boost in support from Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who posed the question, “How can you keep Rose out of baseball and have a sportsbook at the Reds stadium?” in a tweet earlier this month, Rose appears content that he might never be able to enter Cooperstown alongside the greats of the game, such as Carew.
“I don’t think baseball’s gonna move on that,” Rose stated in a recent phone interview, “if Willie Mays or Hank Aaron, who’s gone now, or (the late) Stan Musial, who I played against, said the same thing that Rodney (Carew) said.” “To tell the truth, I’ve kind of given up on being inducted into the Hall of Fame. I’ve been rejected so frequently that I’m unable to see Mr.
Rose wrote to the commissioner in November, expressing his desire to be considered for the Hall of Fame and pleading for Manfred’s “forgiveness.”
In response to Rose’s letter to reporters that same month, Manfred stated that, “from Major League Baseball’s perspective,” Rose should be permanently barred from the game for having committed the ultimate transgression. Rose had previously asked to be reinstated, but Manfred had turned her down in December 2015.
“I made it clear that I didn’t think the purpose of that baseball (permanently ineligible) list was the same as the eligibility criteria for the Hall of Fame,” Manfred told reporters in November when he addressed the matter the last time Rose applied for reinstatement. “I still stand by that.” It’s a discussion that, in my opinion, belongs on the Hall of Fame board. It’s just not appropriate for me to enter that conversation when I’m on that board.
