Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday removed Pete Rose, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, and 15 other deceased people from the league’s permanently ineligible list, ending their lifetime bans after death.
The decision, a major shift in baseball’s position toward gambling, opens the door for Rose, baseball’s all-time hit leader, and Jackson, caught up the 1919 Black Sox cheating scandal, to be considered for Hall of Fame induction starting in 2028.
Rose was banned in 1989 for betting on baseball while managing the Cincinnati Reds, and Jackson, a popular Chicago White Sox star, was banned in 1921. According to legend, a tearful young boy approached Jackson after he was expelled from baseball and pleaded, “Say it ain’t so, Joe!” Rose died last September, never seeing his name on a Hall ballot. President Trump had called for his reinstatement earlier this year.
