UNBANNED: Pete Rose And Shoeless Joe Jackson Now Eligible For Baseball Hall of Fame

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the MLB will remove Pete Rose, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, and several other deceased baseball stars from the MLB’s permanent ineligible list.

The all-time hit leader, Pete Rose, and Jackson were banned from the MLB after getting caught up in gambling scandals.

Manfred’s new rule declares that the “MLB’s punishment of banned individuals ends upon their deaths.”

He added, “Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game.”

Breaking: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred removed Pete Rose, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and other deceased players from Major League Baseball’s permanently ineligible list.

Manfred ruled that MLB’s punishment of banned individuals ends upon their deaths. They are now presumably… pic.twitter.com/YkIZ34jMUu

— ESPN (@espn) May 13, 2025

Many users were upset that Manfred waited until Rose’s death to make him eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Take a look:

Absolutely pathetic they waited for Pete Rose to pass away before giving him his day in the sun

Reprehensible https://t.co/6a0q2AevIA

— Gary Sheffield Jr. (@GarysheffieldJr) May 13, 2025

PETE ROSE DESERVED TO SEE HIS NAME IN THE HALL OF FAME

— JohnRocker (@itsJohnRocker) May 13, 2025

Per ESPN:

In a historic, sweeping decision, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday removed Pete Rose, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and other deceased players from Major League Baseball’s permanently ineligible list.

The all-time hit king and Jackson — both longtime baseball pariahs stained by gambling, seen by MLB as the game’s mortal sin — are now eligible for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Manfred ruled that MLB’s punishment of banned individuals ends upon their deaths.

“Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred wrote in a letter to attorney Jeffrey M. Lenkov, who petitioned for Rose’s removal from the list Jan. 8. “Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve.

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“Therefore, I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list.”

Manfred’s decision ends the ban that Rose accepted from then-Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in August 1989, following an MLB investigation that determined the 17-time All-Star had bet on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds.

BREAKING: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred removed Pete Rose, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and other deceased players from the league's permanently ineligible list on Tuesday.

Manfred ruled that MLB's punishment of banned individuals ends upon their deaths. pic.twitter.com/1oNmGxaGA7

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) May 13, 2025

Check out what CBS reported:

Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader, has been posthumously reinstated by Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, the league announced Tuesday. The decision removes Rose from MLB’s permanently ineligible list after some 36 years as Manfred ruled that lifetime bans do not apply posthumously. Manfred’s decision comes after a petition filed by California attorney Jeffrey Lenkov, who represented Rose prior to his September 2024 death at the age of 83, and public pressure from President Donald Trump.

“Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred wrote in a letter to Lenkov. “Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve. Therefore, I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list.”

Shoeless Joe Jackson, who was banned for the Chicago Black Sox scandal, and 15 other late players have also been reinstated.

While Rose’s restoration is a necessary first step toward one day appearing on a Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, Manfred’s decision does not guarantee such an outcome. That decision will ultimately be made by the Hall itself at multiple levels of oversight. The next step is to be nominated by the Hall of Fame’s Historical Overview Committee, which is selected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and approved by the Hall’s board. It is not certain when such procedures would be undertaken or what the outcome of them would be.

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