MLB will not reinstate Pete Rose, still banned from baseball

New Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred took a similar route to his predecessors and refused to lift the ban against Pete Rose.

The all-time hits leader in Major League Baseball will once again remain on the outside looking in at Cooperstown, as MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has opted not to reinstate Pete Rose from the Permanently Ineligble list.

According to Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times, who cited three sources close to the commissioner’s office, Manfred reviewed all of the circumstances around Rose’s banishment from the game but did not see sufficient reason to reinstate Rose at this time. In doing so, Rose will remain ineligible from coaching or working in Major League Baseball. Most importantly, he will not be allowed to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The battle was always going to be an uphill fight for Pete Rose, who was added to baseball’s Permanently Ineligible list in August of 1989. Then commissioner Bart Giamatti deemed that there was sufficient evidence to determine that Rose had bet on the game of baseball, including on this own team, while playing and managing for the Cincinnati Reds. Rose voluntarily accepted the banishment at the time, feeling that he could apply for reinstatement within a year.

Reinstatement has remained an ongoing battle for Rose, as he’s applied and been declined by Giamatti’s successor Fay Vincent, Bud Selig, and finally Manfred. At one point in 2015, it appeared as though reinstatement was a distinct possibility, as Rose was allowed to attend the Cincinnati Reds’ pre-game celebrations during the 2015 All-Star Game. He also served as an analyst for Fox Sports throughout the course of the year.

Unfortunately, every time Rose applies for reinstatement, he is met with more news of his actions that further complicate his efforts. It happened once again this past summer, when ESPN reported that evidence existed of Rose gambling not just on baseball, but also the Reds in games where he could ultimately affect the outcome.

For baseball’s all-time leader in hits, that likely ends his bid for the Hall of Fame during his lifetime. While that might be a blow to the game itself, one could hardly fault the league for wanting to maintain the integrity of the game.

Records or not, no one player is bigger than the game.