MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced this month that 17 players were reinstated from MLB’s permanently ineligible list after concluding the policy should no longer apply once the disciplined individual has passed away.

“In my view, once an individual has passed away, the purposes of Rule 21 have been served. Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred said in a letter to attorney Jeffrey M. Lenkov.

The group of players notably includes Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who were both originally banned from baseball due to their involvement in gambling scandals.

A pair of players with ties to the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, Phil Douglas and Lee Magee, were also reinstated from MLB’s permanently ineligible list.

Former Dodgers reinstated from MLB banned list

Phil Douglas

Phil Douglas had a brief stop with the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1915 season after he was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds. He made 20 appearances (13 starts), going 5-5 with a 2.62 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 116.2 innings pitched.

Douglas played in parts of nine MLB seasons and found his greatest success with the New York Giants. He posted a National League-best 2.63 ERA in 1922, which wound up being his final season.

Douglas was arrested after getting drunk following a poor start against the Pittsburgh Pirates that year. Upon being away from the Giants for a few days, Douglas said in a letter that he would rather throw games than help manager John McGraw win a pennant.

Then-commissioner of baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis placed Douglas on the permanently ineligible list after the right-hander confirmed that he wrote the letter.

Lee Magee

The Brooklyn Robins acquired Lee Magee from the Reds at the start of the 1919 season. He went on to hit .238/.262/.298 with seven doubles, two triples and seven RBI in 45 games. Magee was eventually traded to the Chicago Cubs, where he would finish the final season of his career.

Magee was banned by Landis the following year after admitting to Cubs president Bill Veeck that he wagered against his own team, the Reds, two years earlier. Magee appeared in 1,015 career games over nine MLB seasons.

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