His case has always been more about forgiveness than exoneration.
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He applied for reinstatement in September 1997 and met with Commissioner Bud Selig in November 2002, but Selig never ruled on Rose’s application. According to the statement, Manfred promised Rose a decision on his application for reinstatement “by the end of the calendar year”. “We appreciate that, but other than that we have no comment”. After initially denying having bet on baseball, Rose was found to have done so.
Manfred discussed the Rose situation during an appearance on Thursday’s episode of The Dan Patrick Show, apparently before the meeting took place. Then he went year with saying he never bet on his own team, only to have that also proven to be a lie.
Things haven’t been made any easier for Rose over the years. “I was suspended in 1989 … ’89!” I think it is very unlikely Manfred will lift the ban. At the time, it was a voluntary punishment accepted by Rose. That may not fit the lifestyle Giamatti had in mind.
It’s worth noting that Manfred already ruled on the reinstatement of another prominent baseball figure this season.
“No one in the history of the game who has been declared permanently ineligible has been reinstated”, Dowd said. “That gives Rule 21 tremendous force that protects the integrity of the game”. At 74, Rose agrees he is too old to be considered for an active on-the-field job. He’s the all-time hits leader with 4,256, and was selected to 17 All-Star games in his career.
Of course, the heart of this entire discussion is the greatest source of personal gain for Pete Rose; the National Baseball Hall of Fame. “I only have one of them”.
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“I’m glad he met with him. That’s the issue I have in front of me”, he said. Given his questionable character flaws, and the Hall of Fame’s insistence on considering it, Rose may find it hard to even achieve that at this point. Manfred’s ruling should close the latest chapter of that book, but, given Rose’s stature and personality, we expect this story is far from over. He has waited 26 years.
