Why was Pete Rose banned from baseball? What to know after MLB’s hit king reinstated
Pete Rose was reinstated by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, making him eligible for the Hall of Fame. Baseball great Shoeless Joe Jackson was also reinstated by Manfred on Tuesday.
Rose’s advocates have included President Donald Trump, who said he plans to pardon Rose posthumously. In April, Manfred discussed Rose with Trump when the two met.
RELATED: MLB reinstates Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, clearing path to Hall of Fame
Why was Pete Rose banned from baseball?
The backstory:
Pete Rose, a 17-time All-Star, had 4,256 hits and holds records for games (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890). Rose was the 1973 National League MVP and played on three World Series-winning teams.
RELATED: Pete Rose reinstatement decision coming after Manfred’s meeting with Trump
According to the Associated Press, an investigation revealed that Rose bet on the Cincinnati Reds games from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team. And in 1989, the MLB permanently banned Rose from the league.
In 1997, Rose applied for reinstatement and met with Commissioner Bud Selig in November 2002, but Selig never ruled on Rose’s request. And in 2015, Manfred denied Rose’s application for reinstatement.
RELATED: Trump says Pete Rose will be pardoned posthumously
Rose died Sept. 30 at age 83, and a new petition was filed Jan. 8 by Jeffrey Lenkov, a lawyer who represented Rose. Lenkov and Rose’s daughter Fawn met with Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on Dec. 17, 2025.
Rose’s permanent ban was lifted eight months after his death and came a day before the Cincinnati Reds will honor baseball’s career hits leader with Pete Rose Night.
What led to the decision for Rose’s reinstatement into baseball?
Dig deeper:
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday he was changing the league’s policy on permanent ineligibility, saying bans would expire at death.
According to the Associated Press, MLB said 17 players had their status changed by the decision, including all eight banned members of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox, former Philadelphia Phillies president Williams D. Cox and former New York Giants outfielder Benny Kauff.
The AP noted that under the Hall of Fame’s current rules, the earliest Pete Rose or Shoeless Joe Jackson could be inducted would be in 2028.
