Pete Rose, 'Shoeless' Joe eligible for HOF as MLB ends ban
MLB removed Pete Rose, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, and other deceased players from the permanently ineligible list, the league announced Tuesday.
National Baseball Hall of Fame chairman Jane Forbes Clark said the decision will allow players who've been removed from the list to be considered for enshrinement, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. A historical committee will create an eight-person ballot for the Classic Baseball Era Committee to vote on in December 2027, Forbes Clark added.
Under the Hall of Fame's current rules, the earliest that Rose and Jackson could be inducted is 2028.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred ruled that permanent ineligibility is lifted when a player dies.
"Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game," Manfred wrote in a letter to Rose's lawyer, Jeffrey M. Lenkov, according to Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN. "Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve.
"Therefore, I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list."
Rose, baseball's all-time hit king, was placed on the permanently ineligible list in 1989 for betting on baseball games while he was a player-manager for the Cincinnati Reds in 1986. A 1991 rule change made players on the list ineligible for the Hall of Fame.
Cincinnati will honor Rose, who died in September 2024 at age 83, before playing the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.
The 17-time All-Star recorded 4,256 hits over a 24-year career that included stops with the Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, and Montreal Expos from 1963-86. He's also the major-league leader in games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053), singles (3,215), and times on base (5,929).
Jackson and seven other White Sox were banned in 1921 for fixing the 1919 World Series in what is now referred to as the Black Sox Scandal. Jackson, who posted a career .356 batting average, died in 1951 but remains a well-known figure in baseball lore and pop culture after Ray Liotta portrayed him in the 1989 film "Field of Dreams."