Major League Baseball has reinstated Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson from the permanently ineligible list, according to ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr.
Commissioner Rob Manfred’s decision ends the ban that Rose accepted from then-Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in August 1989, following an MLB investigation that determined the all-time hits leader bet on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds.
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Jackson and seven other Chicago White Sox were banned in 1921 by MLB’s first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, for fixing the 1919 World Series.
Both Rose and Jackson will now be eligible for election to the Hall of Fame. Here’s what to know about their reinstatement.
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Pete Rose, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson reinstatement
MLB announced on Tuesday that Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson will be reinstated from the permanently ineligible list.Â
“Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred wrote in a letter to attorney Jeffrey M. Lenkov, who petitioned for Rose’s removal from the list Jan. 8. “Therefore, I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list.”
EXCLUSIVE: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred removes Pete Rose, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson from MLB’s permanent ineligible list.
Rose and Jackson– baseball’s two pariahs, stained by gambling– now have a clear pathway for consideration for Baseball’s Hall of Fame.
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— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) May 13, 2025
Manfred’s ruling removes a total of 16 deceased players and one deceased owner from MLB’s banned list, including Jackson’s teammates from the group involved in the “Black Sox” scandal.
