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Trump To Pardon MLB Legend Pete Rose, Calls For Posthumous Hall Of Fame Induction
President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post that he will be pardoning Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s all-time hit leader. Rose, who passed away last year at the age of 83, was never inducted into the Hall of Fame after he was barred from the sport for life for betting on games.
“Major League Baseball didn’t have the courage or decency to put the late, great, Pete Rose, also known as ‘Charlie Hustle,’ into the Baseball Hall of fame. Now he is dead, will never experience the thrill of being selected, even though he was a FAR BETTER PLAYER than most of those who made it, and can only be named posthumously,” Trump wrote.
While MLB does not directly nominate players, coaches and other influential baseball figures to Cooperstown, the Baseball Writers Association of America and Hall of Fame followed along with the league’s lifetime ban for gambling in 1989. Rose admitted to gambling in 2004, though he remained adamant that he only ever bet on his team and never tried to throw games.
“WHAT A SHAME! Anyway, over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING. He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history. Baseball, which is dying all over the place, should get off its fat, lazy ass, and elect Pete Rose, even though far too late, into the Baseball Hall of Fame!” Trump added.
Rose during his time as manager of the Cincinnati Reds
Rose died last September at 83 after suffering from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
“Charlie Hustle” spent the majority of his big league career with his hometown Cincinnati Reds, with whom he played 19 of his 24 seasons. A 17-time All Star, Rose racked up 4,256 hits, making him the league’s all-time hit king by a wide margin. No player whose career began after Rose’s has come close to 4,000 hits, with Yankees legend Derek Jeter coming the closest at 3,465 hits over 20 major league seasons.
Rose attempted to apply for reinstatement in the decades following his lifetime ban, but to no avail. After denying one of his requests for reinstatement in 2015, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said that Rose had not taken responsibility for his actions of the “damage” his gambling habit did to the game.
While Rose has remained a polarizing figure in baseball since the ban, the push for his reinstatement picked up steam in recent years as major sports leagues, including MLB, have accepted sponsorships from sports gambling organizations. Ads for FanDuel, DraftKings and ESPN bet are commonplace around MLB ballparks while Rose remains banned and ineligible for posthumous Hall of Fame induction.
Rose pointed to the widespread legalization of sports betting and its subsequent embrace by the league when applying for reinstatement in 2020 and 2022. Manfred once again denied the requests, however, instead pointing any inquiries to the Veteran’s Committee for any Hall of Fame discussions regarding Rose. Manfred once again rejected Rose’s request for reinstatement in 2023, even as the league was signing partnerships with sportsbooks for the upcoming season.
