In August 1989, Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader, was placed on the league’s permanently ineligible list for betting on baseball by then-commissioner Bart Giamatti.
Following that ruling, the Baseball Hall of Fame enacted a clause that all players on said list would also be ineligible for election. Rose has attempted to get his name removed from the permanently ineligible list, though to no avail.
He formally exercised his right to appeal in April 2015, and there was some thought MLB commissioner Rob Manfred would grant the wish former commissioner Bud Selig denied Rose.
Manfred instructed his staff to review the case and also met with Rose to discuss the matter in person. However, once again, the famed member of the Big Red Machine was denied reinstatement by MLB and by extension, remained ineligible for the Hall of Fame.
When asked if he would vote for Rose to get enshrined at Cooperstown, legendary Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully said he would not, via the Associated Press:
The 88-year-old Scully discusses Rose in an interview for the upcoming March issue of AARP Bulletin, released Friday to The Associated Press. Scully was asked by freelance writer Jon Saraceno whether he would vote to induct Rose if Scully had a say, which he does not. “I wouldn’t,” Scully said. “Should he be in? He should be. But by his own hand, he locked the door and kept himself outside.”
While Rose remains banned from baseball, he will be inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame during the club’s Hall of Fame induction weekend (June 24-26). The Reds will also retire Rose’s No. 14 jersey and erect a statue in his honor.
In 24 Major League seasons, Rose finished a career .303/.375/.409 batter with two World Series titles. Last July, former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda said he believed Rose should remain banned for life.
