While President Donald Trump has vowed to pardon the late all-time hit king Pete Rose, baseball's stance should not change. Trump's decision would eliminate all legal penalties against Rose, which include a five-month prison sentence he served in the early 1990's for tax evasion. Trump made clear in his statement that he believes Rose should be deemed eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame, but that is of course out of his jurisdiction and up to Rob Manfred and Cooperstown.
"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. "He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history."
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Rob Manfred could reinstate Pete Rose, which is the wrong decision
Despite what the president said, there is ample evidence Rose bet on baseball while he was a manager. Rose refused to come clean about his transgressions for years until he realized his only path forward was to do so. While baseball has a complicated relationship with gambling – this message is not brought to you by FanDuel – they have remained consistent on their gambling policies with players, coaches and umpires. MLB has a zero-tolerance policy in that department, and enabling Rose (even posthumously) would send a terrible message.
In a recent report from ESPN, it was revealed Rob Manfred is at least considering Rose's reinstatement. Manfred is considering a petition filed by Rose's daughter Fawn Rose, as well as his former lawyer Jeffrey Lenkov. The goal of this petition is to deem Rose eligible for the Hall of Fame.
"The commissioner was respectful, gracious, and actively participated in productive discussions regarding removing Rose from the ineligible list," Lenkov said of a meeting he had with Manfred. "It is now time to turn the page on Pete Rose's legacy in baseball and for the Hall of Fame to honor him. Whether you are a fan or not of Pete Rose, we are at our best a nation of second chances, a nation of giving people second opportunities. We don't write off people."
Pete Rose wrote himself off decades ago
However, the issue here is not MLB writing Rose off. He did that himself in the decades after his lifetime ban, including numerous appearances at casinos. He also failed to come clean until the early 2000's. While Cooperstown is full of flawed individuals, few of them have the track record of Rose, a man so hellbent on proving his innocence he avoided truth for decades.
Heck, if gambling were the only black mark on Rose's resume, perhaps MLB could eventually look past it. But that is far from the case. Rose has also been accused of statutory rape from his playing days, an allegation he dismissed in 2022 to a female reporter at a Phillies fan event.
"It was 55 years ago, babe," Rose told a female reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Cooperstown is a museum dedicated to the very best and brightest the game has to offer. On the field, Rose was certainly that, and he deserves mention among the archives. However, there should be little doubt in Manfred's mind that Rose, were he here, would not handle this situation with grace, either.
In Rose's case, Manfred risks being on the wrong side of history.