Rose was banned amid reports that he had bet on baseball games while managing the Cincinnati Reds and supporters have long pushed for his inclusion in the Hall of Fame.
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“I like the fact that they did it so thoroughly and completely and honestly like we tried to do in our report”, John Dowd said.
“I remain committed to the idea that Mr. Rose deserves an opportunity to tell me, in whatever format he feels most comfortable, whatever he wants me to know about the issues”, Manfred told reporters at the all-star game in July. When Manfred met with Rose in September to hear his case, Rose told Manfred that he still bet on sports, including baseball, but only after initially denying the question.
As NPR’s Tom Goldman previously reported for The Two-Way, Manfred was considering the request to reinstate the 74-year-old Rose, whose record for most hits in a career, 4,256, is considered by some to be untouchable.
The new information included a copy of a notebook that documented bets Rose made on games in the Reds’ 1986 season, in which Rose both played and managed.
By reconfigured, Manfred meant that Rose remains an unrepentant bettor, wagering on all kinds of sporting events, including baseball.
It’s a bit tacky, yes, but a guy has to make a living.
After twenty-six years, Pete Rose still can’t cross home plate with Major League Baseball. So 20 days a month, Rose sits for four to five hours a day at Mandalay Bay, where people who remember Charlie Hustle in his prime stop by to get some memorabilia and chat for a few minutes. But he said he only did so as manager of the Reds and he only bet on the Reds to win. Without the baggage of betting, he would be elected on the first ballot, though he won’t ever get the chance because the Hall has ruled him – unlike Bonds and the others – ineligible for a vote. He recognizes that it was also of his own making.
“In my view, the considerations that should drive a decision on whether an individual should be allowed to work in Baseball are not the same as those that should drive a decision on Hall of Fame eligibility”, Manfred wrote. But it’s a total crime that it’s keeping him out of the Hall of Fame, and Manfred knows that upholding the ban will continue to do that.
Rose can be arrogant, and he can be coarse. He didn’t leave Manfred with much choice but to keep him out of the game. People make mistakes and put it on his plaque that he bet on baseball for the world to see.
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Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press.
