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Pete Rose was removed from Major League Baseball's permanently ineligible list on Tuesday.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred writes that he is no longer ineligible as he will no longer be able to “represent a threat to the integrity of the game” in letters obtained by ESPN after the death of the player. Seventeen players are eligible to vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Carl Labeck, ESPN's “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcaster, believes Rose's return to work is linked to a recent meeting with Manfred and President Donald Trump.
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Reds Hall of Fame Pete Rose will be featured before he unveils his bronze statue outside the Great American Ballpark in downtown Cincinnati on June 17, 2017. (image)
Trump and Manfred met at the White House last month, but it is unknown what the two discussed. Trump was keen on his belief that Pete Rose should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“It appears to be more closely linked to the meeting with President Donald Trump, who has exempt Pete Rose and made it very clear that the committee will qualify him for the Hall of Fame,” Labeck appeared on Outkick's “The Ricky Cobb Show.”
Trump posted to Social in February that he would forgive Rose after his death. MLB Hit King served five months in prison in 1990 and was accused of legal rape from a meeting several decades ago in 2017.
Labeck said that he himself does not understand MLB's motivation to remove Rose from the ineligible list.
“I don't know what that motive is. For me, being permanently ineligible means just that. Petrose's passing does not necessarily change the dynamics for me. He was permanently ineligible. I'm watching the Hall of Fame.
ESPN's Tony Cornheiser explains why Pete Rose's return to work doesn't guarantee the Hall of Fame
Pete Rose was a Cincinnati Reds player in 1985. (image)
“For me, Pete Rose is in the Hall of Fame. If you go to Cooperstown, you see the numbers, you see the bats. You hear about the records. I know no one in the history of the game will hit more than Pete Rose.
However, Ravech does not believe that Rose's removal from the permanently ineligible list means that he is guaranteed to be voted for the Hall of Fame.
“It doesn't mean Rick. This is what they're trying to greenlight him to get him. It's clear that the players on these committees have revealed the smudges of the game, whether they're on steroids or not.
“Gambling is another thing, and I grew up in the clubhouse for the past 30 years. (i) Walking over all of them, the top line is essentially a commandment. You should not bet on baseball.
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Reds Great Pete Rose holds the star bearing his name before his match against the San Diego Padres at Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark on June 24, 2016. (image)
Rose passed away in September 2024 at the age of 83, but debates about whether he should be in the Hall of Fame have been furious.
Rose is MLB's hit king with 4,256 career hits. He was a National League MVP in 1974, 17 All-Stars, three World Series champions and three batting champions.
However, the Cincinnati Reds star became a polarizing figure when news of his gambling in the game shook the world of sports. Rose received a lifetime ban from MLB in 1989, but is eligible to vote for the first time since the announcement Tuesday.
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