MLB makes Pete Rose, 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson now Hall of Fame eligible
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"Shoeless" Joe Jackson (left) of the Chicago White Sox circa 1919 in Chicago; Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati. Photos: B Bennett/Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios; Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images
Major League Baseball has removed Pete Rose, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and other deceased players from the league's permanently ineligible list, making them eligible for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Why it matters: Rose and Jackson were legendary players during their time, but had been shunned for their role in gambling on the sport — something the league now embraces.
Driving the news: MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. announced Tuesday a new policy that permanent ineligibility ends upon "the passing of the disciplined individual."
- The policy change came after an application filed by the family of Pete Rose, the league said in a statement.
- "Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game. Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve," Manfred wrote to the Rose family attorney.
Zoom in: The change means that not only Rose but members of the 1919 Chicago "Black Sox" scandal, who allegedly threw the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, were now eligible for the Hall of Fame if elected.
- Rose was placed on the ineligible list due to a 1989 settlement of potential litigation with the Commissioner's Office during then-commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti's time.
- Jackson and the other White Sox were placed on the ineligible list by Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first baseball commissioner, even though the men were later acquitted of conspiracy to defraud.
- Jackson was a lifetime .356 hitter and hit .408 in 1911.
State of play: The ban had been the stuff of baseball lore since it kept two of the game's greatest players out of the Hall of Fame, covered in magical movies like "Field of Dreams" and "Eight Men Out."
- The move has been the subject of sports talk radio debates since the Hall of Fame also included racists and segregationists like Landis.
President Trump said earlier this year he planned to pardon Rose posthumously, but didn't give details.
- "Over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn't have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING," Trump wrote on social media Feb. 28.
Context: Rose pleaded guilty in 1990 to two counts of filing false tax returns and served a five-month prison sentence.
- For years, Rose denied that he gambled on baseball and then finally admitted it later in life in an attempt to get reinstated in baseball.
- Rose, MLB's all-time hit leader, died last year at 83 years old.
- Baseball writers have't voted players involved in the steroid era like Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa into the Hall of Fame and can still opt not to support Rose or Jackson.
Between the lines: MLB in recent years has been moving to revise its history, mainly focusing on correcting wrongs.
- The league announced last year it would add statistics from the Negro Leagues to the Major League historical record.
- That meant that Negro League legend Josh Gibson is now the all-time Major League batting champion and pitcher Satchel Paige is third all-time for a single season ERA.
- The move to finally incorporate stats from Negro League players — barred from MLB during segregation — means greats like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb no longer hold some top spots, revamped records show.
Fun fact: Newly elected Pope Leo XIV is a Chicago White Sox fan.
- Footage shows he was at the 2005 World Series between the White Sox and the Houston Astros.
