Rob Manfred removes all deceased players, including Pete Rose, from permanently ineligible list

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has ruled that permanent ineligibility ends when a player passes away. Therefore, Pete Rose has been reinstated, and is eligible to be considered for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as early as December 2027.

Rose, who died on Sept. 30, 2024, has been reinstated alongside “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and other members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox team associated with the “Black Sox Scandal.”

Rose was banned from the sport in 1989 after an investigation found that he placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds as a player and manager from 1985-87. Rose’s former lawyer Jeffrey Lenkov filed a petition on January 8, 2025 for the league to reinstate his former client. Manfred, according to ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., wrote a letter to Lenkov explaining the decision.

“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 a 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.”

Jane Forbes Clark, the chairman of the board for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, released a statement after Manfred’s ruling was announced.

“The National Baseball Hall of Fame has always maintained that anyone removed from Baseball’s permanently ineligible list will become eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. Major League Baseball’s decision to remove deceased individuals from the permanently ineligible list will allow for the Hall of Fame candidacy of such individuals to now be considered. The Historical Overview Committee will develop the ballot of eight names for the Classic Baseball Era Committee – which evaluates candidates who made their greatest impact on the game prior to 1980 – to vote on when it meets next in December 2027.”

Rose was a member of the 1980 World Series championship-winning Phillies team. He spent five seasons with Philadelphia near the end of his career from 1979-83.