Pete Rose Still Searching For Hall Pass
Baseball’s stigmatized all-time hits leader, Pete Rose, has again attempted to get his name on the Hall of Fame ballot.
Rose submitted a seven-page letter Thursday to the National Baseball Hall of Fame to be reviewed by the Hall’s president, Jeff Idelson. In the letter that was obtained by Yahoo Sports, Rose is arguing against the lifetime ban handed down by the commissioner of baseball at the time, Bart Giamatti based on Rose’s gambling.
This comes less than nine months after Rose was shut down with his pleas to the now commissioner, Rob Manfred, to be reinstated. This will be the last ditch effort to get into the Hall.
According to Yahoo Sports, the letter outlines that Rose’s agreement was a ban from the game, not the Hall:
“At the time Pete agreed to the settlement, the consequences of being placed on the ineligible list were clear and specific — and did not include a Hall of Fame prohibition.” Giamatti died eight days after delivering the suspension.”
In February 1991, approximately a year before Rose would have appeared on the ballot, the Hall of Fame established Rule 3(e), which barred permanently ineligible players from enshrinement.
The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) comprises the voting body of the inductees. There’s special consideration to eligible players to be indicted in by a Veterans Committee. Rose hasn’t been deemed eligible for consideration by either group.
The BBWAA president, Jack O’Connell, in an exclusive statement to NY Baseball News commented on Rose’s letter:
“Pete Rose has not been in the BBWAA’s jurisdiction regarding the Hall of Fame since after the 2006 election. According to current rules, no player 15 years (it used to be 20) after his retirement as a major league player may be considered on our ballot. That would leave the question of Rose’s eligibility solely with the Hall. It was the official position of the BBWAA in 1991 that Rose should go on the ballot when eligible (1992), but the board supported Commissioner Vincent’s proposal that banned from consideration anyone on the ineligible list. Many individual writers took up Rose’s defense only to learn when he stated in a book published in 2004 that he had bet on baseball that he had lied to them all along. The BBWAA takes no position on this latest appeal. Our involvement would only be if the Hall tells our Historic Overview Committee that establishes the various Veterans Committee ballots that he may be considered for one of those eras.”
Rose’s attorneys are contesting in the letter to the Hall that:
“… No one associated with the game other than Pete has ever been categorically denied eligibility from day one after the conclusion of his career for actions having nothing to do with the way they played baseball.”
This is the first time that Rose has attempted to contact the Hall of Fame directly. Without Rose’s gambling indiscretions, his total of 4,256 hits, 17 all-star appearances, three World Series championships, World Series MVP, National League MVP, and rookie of the year undoubtedly would have garnered him election in his first year of eligibility.
The allegations of Rose’s gambling have been reviewed over the course of 20-plus years. In that time he has admitted to gambling on baseball but still claims not to have bet on the Reds as a player or manager. ESPN investigated Rose in 2015 and determined Rose did in fact bet on baseball while from 1984 to 1986 while still an active player. The investigation also made public the existence of records of bets made by Rose that was seized by US federal authorities.
Rose was separated from everything baseball except for autograph signings where he made a joke out of himself and the ban. He has tried to reclaim his stake this past season becomes ingrained an analyst for fox sports. Rose was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame this past June. He was the sole honoree and had his №14 jersey retired.
The letter is concluded by Rose’s attorney’s stating:
“We believe that the institution of Baseball will be strengthened by this act of grace — an act that would give Pete Rose the same treatment that every other Major League Baseball player and manager received throughout the first 55 years of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.”
