In a landmark ruling, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has removed Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and several other deceased players from the league's permanently ineligible list. This ruling comes as a significant shift in MLB's handling of gambling-related bans, stating that posthumously, banned individuals cannot threaten the game's integrity. Consequently, this opens up the possibility for these players to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame, should they receive enough support. The decision reflects an evolving perspective on past transgressions and their lasting implications on baseball's history.
"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.
"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.
The so-called "Black Sox Scandal" is one of the darkest chapters in baseball history, the subject of books and the
Collection
[
|
...
]