In a historic decision, Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, announced on Tuesday that any punishment of people banned from the game ends with their deaths, leaving open the possibility that the legendary slugger “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and the all-time hits leader, Pete Rose, could be elected to the baseball Hall of fame.
“Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game. 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,” Manfred wrote to attorney Jeffrey M. Lenkov, who had been trying for a decade to get Rose reinstated. Lenkov asked Manfred to remove Rose from the list in January, just four months after Rose died.
“Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the board of the Hall of Fame, said Manfred’s decision will allow Rose, Jackson and others to be considered by the Historical Overview Committee, which will ‘develop the ballot of eight names for the Classic Baseball Era Committee … to vote on when it meets next in December 2027,’” ESPN reported.
“This has been a long journey,” Lenkov said. “On behalf of the family, they are very proud and pleased and know that their father would have been overjoyed at this decision today.”
Rose, a 17-time All-Star who retired from the game with 4,256 hits, was banned from the game by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in August 1989, after an investigation found he had bet on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds late in his career. He played the game with a relentless intensity that reminded fans of Ty Cobb, who was generally regarded as the most intense player to have ever played. Rose used to run to first base after a walk, prompting Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford to nickname him “Charlie Hustle.” Rose said, “My dad said the quicker you get to first base, the quicker you go around the bases. I played the way I was supposed to play.”
Rose, a switch-hitter who won three batting titles, was the emotional leader of the Cincinnati Reds’ Big Red Machine that was one of the greatest teams to have ever played, winning the World Series in 1975 in a legendary seven-game series with the Boston Red Sox and then again in 1976, dominating the New York Yankees. He later helped the Philadelphia Phillies win their first World Series in 1980.
On Wednesday night, at Pete Rose Night at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, Lenkov and Rose’s family will attend. “Reds Nation will not only be able to celebrate Pete’s legacy, but now optimistically be able to look forward to the possibility that Pete will join other baseball immortals,” Lenkov said. “Pete Rose would have for sure been overjoyed at the outpouring of support from all.”
Jackson, who had a career batting average of .356, the fourth highest in MLB history, after Ty Cobb (.366), Oscar Charleston (.365), and Rogers Hornsby (.358), was copied by his admirer Babe Ruth, who imitated Jackson by holding the bat at the knob, instead of choking up, which was favored by hitters but deprived them of the power Ruth wanted. Ruth called Jackson the greatest hitter he had ever seen.
But Jackson was banned from baseball in 1921 after he and seven other members of the Chicago White Sox gambled on the 1919 World Series, in which the Sox played the Cincinnati Reds. The Sox were favored but lost the Series, raising suspicions that players had thrown the series to the Reds. The eight men were banned from baseball by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Jackson’s complicity has been widely questioned, as he set a Series record with 12 hits and led both teams in several statistical categories.
“Rose and Jackson’s candidacies presumably will be decided by the Hall’s 16-member Classic Baseball Era Committee, which considers players whose careers ended more than 15 years ago. The committee isn’t scheduled to meet again until December 2027. Rose and Jackson would need 12 of 16 votes to win induction,” ESPN noted.
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[[{“value”:”
In a historic decision, Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, announced on Tuesday that any punishment of people banned from the game ends with their deaths, leaving open the possibility that the legendary slugger “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and the all-time hits leader, Pete Rose, could be elected to the baseball Hall of fame.
“Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game. 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,” Manfred wrote to attorney Jeffrey M. Lenkov, who had been trying for a decade to get Rose reinstated. Lenkov asked Manfred to remove Rose from the list in January, just four months after Rose died.
“Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the board of the Hall of Fame, said Manfred’s decision will allow Rose, Jackson and others to be considered by the Historical Overview Committee, which will ‘develop the ballot of eight names for the Classic Baseball Era Committee … to vote on when it meets next in December 2027,’” ESPN reported.
“This has been a long journey,” Lenkov said. “On behalf of the family, they are very proud and pleased and know that their father would have been overjoyed at this decision today.”
Rose, a 17-time All-Star who retired from the game with 4,256 hits, was banned from the game by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in August 1989, after an investigation found he had bet on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds late in his career. He played the game with a relentless intensity that reminded fans of Ty Cobb, who was generally regarded as the most intense player to have ever played. Rose used to run to first base after a walk, prompting Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford to nickname him “Charlie Hustle.” Rose said, “My dad said the quicker you get to first base, the quicker you go around the bases. I played the way I was supposed to play.”
Rose, a switch-hitter who won three batting titles, was the emotional leader of the Cincinnati Reds’ Big Red Machine that was one of the greatest teams to have ever played, winning the World Series in 1975 in a legendary seven-game series with the Boston Red Sox and then again in 1976, dominating the New York Yankees. He later helped the Philadelphia Phillies win their first World Series in 1980.
On Wednesday night, at Pete Rose Night at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, Lenkov and Rose’s family will attend. “Reds Nation will not only be able to celebrate Pete’s legacy, but now optimistically be able to look forward to the possibility that Pete will join other baseball immortals,” Lenkov said. “Pete Rose would have for sure been overjoyed at the outpouring of support from all.”
Jackson, who had a career batting average of .356, the fourth highest in MLB history, after Ty Cobb (.366), Oscar Charleston (.365), and Rogers Hornsby (.358), was copied by his admirer Babe Ruth, who imitated Jackson by holding the bat at the knob, instead of choking up, which was favored by hitters but deprived them of the power Ruth wanted. Ruth called Jackson the greatest hitter he had ever seen.
But Jackson was banned from baseball in 1921 after he and seven other members of the Chicago White Sox gambled on the 1919 World Series, in which the Sox played the Cincinnati Reds. The Sox were favored but lost the Series, raising suspicions that players had thrown the series to the Reds. The eight men were banned from baseball by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Jackson’s complicity has been widely questioned, as he set a Series record with 12 hits and led both teams in several statistical categories.
“Rose and Jackson’s candidacies presumably will be decided by the Hall’s 16-member Classic Baseball Era Committee, which considers players whose careers ended more than 15 years ago. The committee isn’t scheduled to meet again until December 2027. Rose and Jackson would need 12 of 16 votes to win induction,” ESPN noted.
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