Pete Rose reinstatement decision coming after Manfred's meeting with Trump
FILE-Cincinnati Reds great Pete Rose is introduced to the crowd as the 1976 World Series Championship team was honored prior to the start of the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres game at Great American Ball Park on June 24, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohi
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said he discussed Pete Rose with President Donald Trump at a meeting and is planning to rule on a request to end baseball’s permanent ban of Rose, who died in 2024.
Could Pete Rose be reinstated?
What we know:
Rob Manfred is contemplating a petition to have Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s career hits leader, posthumously removed from the league’s permanently ineligible list.
The Associated Press reported that Jeffrey Lenkov, a lawyer who represented Rose before he died at age 83, filed the petition in January. Lenkov is seeking Rose's reinstatement so that he can be considered for baseball’s Hall of Fame.
RELATED: Trump says Pete Rose will be pardoned posthumously
Under a rule adopted by the Hall of Fame’s board of directors in 1991, anyone on the permanently ineligible list can’t be considered for election to the Hall, the AP noted.
President Donald Trump posted on social media Feb. 28 that he plans to issue "a complete PARDON of Pete Rose." Trump added that he would sign a pardon for Rose "over the next few weeks" but has not addressed the matter since.
What we don't know:
Manfred hasn’t given a timeframe for when he will make a decision about Rose being reinstated.
If Rose is reinstated by the MLB, can he get into the Hall of Fame?
Dig deeper:
Pete Rose's reinstatement doesn't mean he would appear on a Hall of Fame ballot. The Associated Press noted that Rose would have to be nominated by the Hall's Historical Overview Committee, which is picked by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and approved by the Hall's board.
Moreover, if Rose is reinstated, he may be eligible for consideration to be placed on a ballot to be considered by the 16-member Classic Baseball Era committee in December 2027.
Why was Pete Rose banned from baseball?
The backstory:
Pete Rose, a 17-time All-Star, had 4,256 hits and holds records for games (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890). Rose was the 1973 National League MVP and played on three World Series-winning teams.
According to the Associated Press, an investigation revealed that Rose bet on the Cincinnati Reds games from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team. And in 1989, the MLB permanently banned Rose from the league.
In 1997, Rose applied for reinstatement and met with Commissioner Bud Selig in November 2002, but Selig never ruled on Rose’s request. And in 2015, Manfred denied Rose’s application for reinstatement.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by the Associated Press, which gives background on Pete Rose and the push for his reinstatement back into baseball. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.