Rose’s attorney, Ray Genco, stated, “Rob Manfred confirmed he wants a decision by the end of the calendar year”.
Advertisement
Dowd, whose findings in 1989 led to Rose receiving a lifetime ban for betting on baseball, claimed in July that Rose also had committed statutory rape on young girls during his playing and/or managerial career in a radio interview with WCHE n West Chester, Pa.
However, when Manfred took over for the retiring Bud Selig at the beginning of the year, he publicly expressed a willingness to reevaluate a variety of popular issues throughout the sport, Rose’s case being among them.
Due to his place on the Ineligibility List, Rose is not allowed to be considered for induction into Cooperstown. “Both parties have agreed to refrain from further comment”.
“I think truthfulness is sort of the bedrock of every relationship”, Manfred said.
Rose met Manfred with his representatives for a little less than two hours, making his case for reinstatement, but received no indication of how Manfred plans to rule.
Last April, Manfred said the crowds that packed Montreal’s Olympic Stadium for pre-season games were a “very positive thing” in terms of demonstrating the city’s interest in Major League Baseball.
“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”.
Rose had protested that he never bet on games while a player, but Outside the Lines reported in June that documents revealed that Rose had bet on games in 1986 when he served as the Reds player-manager. He’s been kept out of the Hall of Fame due to his ban (it’s the Hall of Fame’s call, which is not bound by MLB’s rules but has chosen to follow).
“I’m delighted to see that major league baseball is looking for expansion”.
Advertisement
Rose’s chances of reinstatement appear slim, and one of Manfred’s predecessors, Fay Vincent, told the Daily News earlier this year that Manfred and baseball would “be smart” to maintain the status quo on the player who collected 4,256 career hits.
