Last week, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that anyone on the league’s permanently ineligible list that was now deceased would be removed, making them eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. In a statement, Manfred said, “In my view, once an individual has passed away, the purposes of Rule 21 have been served. Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game.” Later in the statement, he said, “I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual.”
The driving force behind this change was, of course, Pete Rose. Rose, who died last September, agreed to be banned by then-Commissioner Bart Giamatti in 1989 after a report by investigator John Dowd confirmed that he had bet on Reds games while he was the manager. That agreement prohibited Dowd from further investigation which likely would have uncovered that Rose had bet on his team to lose. Complicating matters, Giamatti died of a heart attack eight days later, making his successors hesitant to remove Rose from the ineligible list during his lifetime.
Along with Rose, this decision applies to 16 other deceased individuals, including members of the 1919 White Sox like Shoeless Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver, among others. 2028 would be the earliest any of the newly eligible players could be inducted into the Hall of Fame, as the Classic Baseball Era Committee will next meet and vote in December 2027. The two most likely to get any consideration are Rose and Jackson, and neither is the shoe-in their supporters may think.
