Update: 9:15 pm
Pete Rose met with the Media to discuss being denied for reinstatement to Major League Baseball. See in his own words, how he feels.
Original: December 14
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred will not reinstate Pete Rose and he will also not be able to work in baseball as reported by MLB.com on Monday.
Quote from Commissioner Manfred:
“Mr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life either by an honest acceptance by him of his wrongdoing, so clearly established by the Dowd Report, or by a rigorous, self-aware and sustained program of avoidance by him of the circumstances that led to his permanent eligibility in 1989. Absent such credible evidence, allowing him to work in the game presents an unacceptable risk of a future violation by him of Rule 21, and thus to the integrity of our sport.”
“I, therefore, must reject Mr. Rose’s application for reinstatement.”
The all-time hits leader has been banned since August 23, 1989, when he was placed on the permanently ineligible list for violating MLB’s strict rule against betting on the game.
Commissioner Manfred also addressed Pete Rose entering the Hall of Fame:
“It is not part of my authority of responsibility here to make any determination concerning Mr. Rose’s eligibility as a candidate for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In fact, in my view, the considerations that should drive a decision on whether an individual should be allowed to work in Baseball are not the same as those that should drive a decision on Hall of Fame eligibility. … Thus, any debate over Mr. Rose’s eligibility for the Hall of Fame is one that must take place in a different forum.”
Commissioner Manfred on Rose’s public and private comments:
“Mr. Rose’s public and private comments … provide me with little confidence that he has a mature understanding of his wrongful conduct, that he has accepted full responsibility for it, or that he understands the damage he has caused. … I am also not convinced that he has avoided the type of conduct and associations that originally led to his placement on the permanently ineligible list.”
Rose is serving a lifetime ban from baseball for betting on the game and as it stands at the age of 74, it is highly unlikely he will ever see the ban lifted.
