Former Cincinnati Reds baseball star Pete Rose has asked once again to be reinstated by Major League Baseball. Rose is petitioning to remove his name from Major League Baseball’s ineligible list and his campaign has the support of President Donald Trump. The president sent out his endorsement of Rose via Twitter on Saturday afternoon.
Rose is considered to be one of the greatest hitters of all time, playing Major League Baseball for 24 seasons, from 1963-1986. He received a lifetime ban from the sport in 1989 amid allegations he gambled on baseball while he played for and managed the Reds. For years, Rose denied that he bet on baseball for years, but admitted to betting on the game in the 1980s in 2004. He has requested reinstatement in the past, with the current and former commissioners rejecting previous applications.
Rose’s latest appeal to MLB is connected to the Houston Astros cheating scandal. In a petition sent to the MLB Commissioner’s Office, Rose argues that his punishment is “vastly disproportionate” to that of several Houston Astros players accused in a sign-stealing scheme during the team’s 2017 season. His legal team claims that if Alex Cora, A.J. Hinch, Jeff Luhnow and others connected to the scandal aren’t going to be banned from baseball, then Rose’s ban is unfair.
This is not the first time Trump has shown his support for Rose. Trump publicly expressed his displeasure over the denial another of Rose’s requests for reinstatement in 2015. The next year, Trump posted an image of a signed Rose baseball that said “Mr. Trump, please make America Great Again” during his presidential campaign.
Even if Rose were to be reinstated by MLB, he would not automatically be eligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame would also have to un-ban him and allow a vote on his nomination. In that case, the Baseball Writers Association of America would vote on Rose as it does other players, or he’d go on a veterans’ committee ballot.
