On Tuesday, Major League Baseball announced that lifetime bans are just that, and therefore, the late Pete Rose is now eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“Commissioner (Rob) Manfred has concluded that MLB’s policy shall be that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual,” concludes the opening paragraph of the league’s statement.
Shortly after, Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark issued a statement confirming that said individuals can now be considered for enshrinement.
Thus, celebrations for this unworthy man begin anew.
On Tuesday, pro-Rose social media users were elated. They posted about the long-awaited rectification of injustice, only complaining that it was long overdue and should’ve happened before he passed away last September.
The prevailing anti-Rose sentiment is that he shouldn’t have been reinstated because he bet on baseball, something players, umpires, team or league officials still aren’t allowed to do, even now that the league has gambling partners and sponsors.
Neither camp is focusing enough on what really matters in a discussion about Rose’s Hall of Fame eligibility, something far worse than betting on baseball while playing and managing the Cincinnati Reds.
In 2017, a woman testified about a sexual relationship with Rose in the 1970s, when he was a married, 30-something father of two, and star player for the Cincinnati Reds. She stated she had been 14 or 15 years old when it began, and said they had also been together out of state, alluding to places where the age of consent was older than Ohio’s 16.
In court filings, Rose admitted to the sexual relationship, but said he believed she was 16 when it began and denied taking her out of state. He was never charged because the statute of limitations had expired.
Not enough people know about this, in part because not enough media members include it in their coverage of Rose. Not enough people care. It’s already the norm for sports fans to excuse any wrongdoing by their favorite players as ‘off-field’ issues.
But if you’re reading this, now you know. Do you have a daughter? A sister? How about any woman you value and respect? Could you look them in the eye and tell them you support this man, who preyed on a young girl when she was closer in age to his own children?
Rose certainly did not. When he was allowed to attend an event at Phillies’ Citizens Bank Park in August ‘22, he was not only devoid of remorse, but crudely so.
“It was 55 years ago, babe,” he told Philadelphia Inquirer’s Alex Coffey that day, when she asked him what he would say to those who thought his presence at the ballpark sent a negative message to women.
Later that day, Rose reiterated, “Who cares what happened 50 years ago? You weren’t even born, so you shouldn’t be talking about it, because you weren’t born.”
He also offered Coffey his idea of an apology: 1,000 signed baseballs.
Manfred essentially echoed Rose’s statement to Coffey, in a letter to Rose’s family’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lenkov, on Tuesday. “Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” the commissioner wrote.
In other words, it was years ago, babe.
Rose is no longer able to commit statutory rape, or demean female reporters by calling them “babe,” but reversing his ban still threatens the integrity of this game. It’s not the kind of example Major League Baseball should be setting, and it’s an insult to victims and survivors of sexual assault.
Respecting women should be part of baseball, just as it should be part of anything in this world.
Pete Rose got himself banned from baseball. Dying isn’t a good enough reason to let him back in.
