Eight months after the death of Pete Rose, the path for Rose to enter the Hall of Fame will open for the first time since it was blocked 34 years ago. Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, acting on a petition by Rose’s family, removed Rose from the ineligible list Tuesday. The decision by the commissioner is separate from Hall of Fame voting procedures, but it does make Rose eligible for Hall of Fame consideration as soon as December 2027. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr.
Rose, the all-time hits leader with 4,256 hits, in 1989 accepted an agreement with commissioner Bart Giamatti to be placed on the ineligible list after the commissioner’s office spent months investigating his betting on baseball while playing and managing the Cincinnati Reds. Two years later, just before Rose was first eligible on Hall of Fame ballots sent to baseball writers, the Hall changed its eligibility rules. It barred any player on MLB’s ineligible list from appearing on a ballot.
