Even after Pete Rose’s passing, Rob Manfred still finds himself continually talking about the legendary career Rose had and his controversial ban. When Donald Trump was re-elected, many began to realize that the ban could soon come to an end, which could put Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame. Manfred has been very quiet on the topic, but he did recently sit down with the president of the United States.
Rob Manfred Remains Quiet on Pete Rose’s Status
At the age of 83, Pete Rose passed away last September. Rose was a 17-time All-Star and holds more records than anyone can imagine. Leading the MLB in hits, games played, at-bats, singles, and outs, Rose is a three-time World Series champion to go along with numerous other awards.
Jeffrey Lenkov is a Southern California lawyer who represented Pete Rose and filed a petition in January to remove Rose from MLB’s permanently ineligible list. Rose was put on that list in 1989 after he placed bets on the Cincinnati Reds from 1985 to 1987. This is not the first time that Rose has tried to get into the Hall of Fame. His first application to be reinstated was in 1997, but Bud Selig, the commissioner at the time, never ruled on Rose’s request. Rose’s application for reinstatement in 2015 was denied by Rob Manfred.
Trump took to social media on February 28, saying Rose “shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING,” continuing with his plans to issue “a complete PARDON of Pete Rose.” While nothing has been addressed since then, Trump said he would sign a pardon for Rose “over the next few weeks.”
Manfred recalls his meeting with Trump: “I met with President Trump two weeks ago, I guess now, and one of the topics was Pete Rose, but I’m not going beyond that. He’s said what he said publicly; I’m not going beyond that in terms of what the back-and-forth was.”
As MLB commissioner, Manfred is in a different role where he can’t go out to the media and say exactly what he wants to say. In a situation like this, keeping things “tight-lipped” is going to benefit all parties involved.
There’s no debate that Rose’s baseball career deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Most of his records will remain untouched, and he’s one of, if not the best, to ever play the game of baseball. President Trump is clearly on Rose’s side in this debate, and even though the country may have bigger things to worry about, Trump has made it clear he’s putting Pete Rose high on the priority list, and at this point it’s only a matter of time before he’s unbanned and elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.