Looks Bleak for Pete

The National Baseball Hall of Fame is the one place on Earth where the greatest players, coaches, and other people associated with America’s pastime are enshrined for their accomplishments in relation to the sport. Legends like Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Joe Morgan among others are honored inside the hallowed halls of Cooperstown because of their incredible ability to play the game of baseball. The list of baseball hall of famers is a who’s who of legends associated with the sport that exemplify true baseball greatness. Despite this list of incredible heroes of the diamond, another list exists that possibly outweighs and overshadows the hall of fame: the list of people banned from Major League Baseball and the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Perhaps the two most well known people banned from both MLB and the National Baseball Hall of Fame are “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and Pete Rose. Last week, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred denied the reinstatement of Jackson who was banned from baseball for his alleged involvement in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. According to reports, Manfred had read what former commissioners Kenesaw Mountain Landis and A. Bartlett Giamatti had said about Jackson's banishment before deciding to uphold the decision set by Landis. For Rose and Reds Country, this is a bad sign.

Manfred is reviewing Rose's banishment and said that he would make a decision on it by the end of the year. Rose was banned from Major League Baseball in 1989 and subsequently the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 after the hall of fame made it a rule that anybody on the permanently ineligible list of MLB would not be considered for induction. His banishment was a result of his gambling on baseball while playing for and managing an MLB team, which violates the rule MLB had put in place as a result of, ironically, the Black Sox Scandal.

Many people, including myself, felt that this was Rose's best shot at getting reinstated as Manfred appears to be open minded when it comes to baseball. After all, he did agree to take another look at the case in a year in which the Reds were hosting the All-Star game as well as giving out an MLB approved bobblehead of Rose. It seemed that the stars had aligned for Rose and Reds Country as all signs appeared to point to the hit king taking his rightful place inside the hallowed halls of Cooperstown. The ruling on Jackson's banishment, however, paints a different story as it shows that perhaps Manfred is not willing to go against his predecessors. Factor in the new and damaging evidence against Rose in relation to his gambling that was brought to light earlier this summer, and the outlook for the reinstatement of the Charlie Hustle is bleak.

Personally, I think both Jackson and Rose should be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Their careers were indeed of legendary status and their accomplishments on the field were incredible. The hall of fame just seems incomplete without them. I believe they at least deserve the chance to be put on the ballot. Unless they are taken off the permanently ineligible list of MLB though, it will never happen. Manfred already denied “Shoeless” Joe. I hope the outcome is not the same for Pete.

Rose for the hall!