MLB commissioner Rob Manfred revealed Wednesday that support from President Donald Trump was indeed a factor in his stunning decision to end Pete Rose’s permanent banishment from the game.
Speaking to MLB team owners at a meeting in New York, Manfred said the opinions Trump expressed to him during an April 16 visit to the White House played a part in his ultimate ruling a month later to posthumously remove Rose and 16 others from baseball’s permanently ineligible list.
“The president was one of a number of voices that was supportive of the idea that this was the right decision,” Manfred said. “Obviously, I have respect for the office and the advice that he gave I paid attention to, but I had a lot of other people that were weighing in on the topic, as well.”
Manfred issued a sweeping ruling May 13 that declared ‘permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list.”
The decision also clears the way for Rose to be considered for induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Rose, who died on Sept. 30 at the age of 83, was banned from baseball in 1989 by then-commissioner Bart Giamatti after an extensive investigation uncovered overwhelming evidence that he bet on baseball games while manager of the Cincinnati Reds, including games involving his own team.
Rose agreed to the ban in return for baseball to not make a formal determination about whether he bet on the game, only later admitting that he did.
Manfred had previously upheld the ban for Rose, as well as former Chicago White Sox star ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson, but reversed course to declare that any such punishment ends when a person dies.
Two months earlier, Trump expressed on social media that he’d issue a full pardon for Rose and that Rose should be eligible for and inducted into the Hall of Fame.
However, the earliest Rose could be considered by the Hall’s Classic Baseball Committee would be in December 2027.