Pete Rose is Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader, but he’s not in the Hall of Fame because he was banned from the game for life for gambling. Now that MLB has a new commissioner, though, Rose is attempting to be reinstated once more, over 25 years later, by sending a formal request to Rob Manfred.
Pete Rose asks new MLB commissioner for reinstatement
Pete Rose was banned from Major League Baseball for life in the 80s, and is now asking Bud Selig’s successor to overturn that.
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Manfred has said he’ll consider Rose’s request, but also cautioned that people should not read too much into his decision to listen.
“I see it as a really simple thing,” Manfred said. “He’s made a request. Part of my obligations under the major league constitution is to deal with those requests, and I’ll deal with it.”
Essentially, Manfred is saying he will give this due diligence, rather than simply telling Rose to beat it. However, the end result might be the same as that of a less diplomatic response after he’s finished reviewing Rose’s request.
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You can’t blame Rose for trying, though, not when former commissioner Bud Selig was so opposed to the idea of reinstating a player, who would otherwise be immortalized in Cooperstown. It’s possible that Manfred has a soft spot for the situation, but he may subscribe to the belief that allowing Rose back in after all this time would shed some positive light on the game.
It doesn’t hurt to ask the question, but Rose should be careful with how he deals with the situation. Selig was perceived by many to be the type of commissioner who prided himself on not having an email address and on being out of touch with both the game, and fans alike.
Prior to taking over the office as baseball’s latest commissioner, Manfred worked alongside Selig in introducing the pitch clock, as well as creating ways of speeding up and modernizing the game. However, Manfred’s forward thinking has swayed many to believe that he’s making greater strides at appealing to a younger fan base than Selig ever did.
In any case, if the former Reds’ great approaches things the wrong way, MLB might use its new friendship with WWE, whose digital network it helped construct, to take Rose out of the picture for good. They would know just who to send, too.
That is, if Manfred decides that’s what’s best for business, anyway.
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