CNN
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Major League Baseball on Tuesday removed Pete Rose and “shoeless” Joe Jackson. This is two of the most famous players in the sport who had been previously kicked out of baseball for game gambling.
A historic decision by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred allows Rose to consider guiding him to the baseball hall of fame. Rose passed away in September, and Manfred decides that his lifetime ban ended with his death.
“In my view, when an individual dies, the purpose of Rule 21 was provided. Clearly, those who are not with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” writes Manfred. “And it is difficult to imagine a penalty that has a greater deterrent effect than a lifetime that has no oppression.
“Therefore, I concluded that permanent ineligibility will end upon passage of disciplined individuals. Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanent ineligible list.”
Living with Pete Rose Photos
Jackson was a member of the Chicago White Sox and was accused of conspired with a gambler to intentionally lose the 1919 World Series. The Black Sox scandal is the most notorious in baseball history, with Jackson banning himself from MLB for the rest of his life by then-command Kennesaw Mountain Landis, along with seven of his teammates.
The eight White Sox members were acquitted in 1921 for conspiring with a gambler, but were still kicked out of the game.
Jackson always refused to gamble in the World Series.
According to the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum, he averaged .375 in the 1919 World Series, had the then-recorded 12 hits in the series, drove on six runs, did not make any errors, and dumped five Cincinnati Reds players. His story was immortalized in the 1989 film Field of Dreams.
“No matter what anyone says, I was innocent of cheating,” Jackson told Sports News in 1942. “I gave all the baseball. The best being is the only one I have to answer. If I had launched the ball and made the bat look stupid against the Reds, there could have been a basis for doubt.
The full list of players removed from the permanent qualifying list on Tuesday include Eddie Scott, Happy Felsch, Chick Gandil, Fred McMurlin, Sweden Lisburg, Buck Weaver, Lefty Williams, Joe Gedeon, Jean Paulette, Benny Cuff, Lee Maisie, Phil Dograss and Jimmy Cox.
Felsch, Gandil, Cicotte, Williams, McMullin, Weaver and Risberg were other members of the White Sox who were involved in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.
Rose, who passed away last year at the age of 83, holds a major league baseball record for the number of games played (3,562) and hits (4,256). ESPN first reported the news, and CNN contacted Rose’s family lawyer for comments.
After moving into a career as a manager, MLB revealed that in the spring of 1989 he was investigating Rose for gambling. Some of the charges were that he gambled at a baseball game played by the team he played or managed. He later admitted gambling in the game while managing the Cincinnati Reds, and in a 2007 radio interview he said he had wagered on all Reds games as manager.
During the final years of his life, Rose returned to the league multiple times, attempting to qualify for leading to the hall. He tried to make a comeback to the league in 2015 and 2020, but was rejected.
Rose’s reinstatement and ultimately enforcement were particularly the cause of being defended by President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, Trump said he plans to issue a posthumous pardon to Rose. Players for the Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos served time in federal prisons on tax evasion charges in the early 1990s.
“Major League baseball didn’t have the courage or the good sense to put Pete Rose, also known as the “Charlie Hustle,” into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is now dead, but he is a much better player than most of the people who made it, only after his death was named.
He said, “He never wagered on himself or any other team. He was a much more hit in baseball history and won more games than anyone else in sports history.
MLB Legend Pete Rose died at the age of 83
CNN contacted the White House to comment on Rose.
In a statement, National Baseball Hall of Fame President Jane Forbes Clark said players who were removed from the permanently ineligible list have now come to be considered for ensh charges in Cooperstown, New York.
“The National Baseball Hall of Fame has always argued that anyone who is removed from the permanent ineligible list of baseball will be subject to Hall of Fame consideration. The decision to remove deceased major league baseball individuals from the permanent ineligible list will allow them to consider candidates for such individuals’ hall of fame,” the statement read.
The Phillies welcomed the decision and noted that Rose had an impact on the team during his five seasons he played for Philadelphia. Former Phillies great Mike Schmidt called it “the best day for baseball.”
“Congratulations to Pete’s family, his teammates and his supporters who have been waiting for this opportunity to be considered for years,” Schmidt said.
This story has been updated with additional information.