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Pete Rose is finally out of MLB’s doghouse, and he has some company.
Rose was banned from baseball in August 1989 for betting on games, but Commissioner Rob Manfred reinstated him this week. He was also joined by “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, as reported by ESPN.
Manfred explained in a letter to attorney Jeffrey M. Lenkov, who had requested Rose’s removal from the list, that since the banned individuals pose no threat after their passing, the lifetime ban loses its purpose as a deterrent.
Therefore, Manfred decided that once the banned person dies, their permanent ineligibility status ceases, leading to Rose’s removal from the list.
Jackson and several of his Chicago White Sox teammates were banned in 1921 over their fixing of the 1919 World Series. Jackson died in 1951 at the age of 64.
The move makes Rose and Jackson eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame enshrinement as early as 2028.
Rose died in September at the age of 83 having never seen him name on a Hall of Fame ballot.