Pete Rose was a baseball legend and shouldn’t be in Hall of Fame. Both things can be true

The notion that Major League Baseball’s acceptance of legalized betting has paved the way for Pete Rose’s induction into the Hall of Fame might seem appealing. After all, if the league is now fully immersed in the world of gambling, wouldn’t it be hypocritical to keep Rose out of Cooperstown?

Actually, the opposite is true. MLB must keep Rose on its ineligible list, if only to reaffirm that the integrity of the game remains intact. That was precisely the issue at stake on August 24, 1989, when then-commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti issued Rose’s lifetime ban. The Dowd Report had found that Rose placed bets on Cincinnati Reds games while managing the team. At a press conference at the New York Hilton, Giamatti made it clear: “If one is responsible for protecting the integrity of the game of baseball—that is, the game’s authenticity, coherence, and honesty—then the process one uses to protect the integrity of baseball must itself embody that integrity.”

That’s the heart of the matter. Giamatti wasn’t just an administrator; he was a poet—a baseball poet—who fully grasped the deeper meaning of “authenticity” and “honesty” in the sport he cherished. For today’s MLB leadership to undermine his decision would be to invite disaster. Given the history of scandals where baseball and gambling have collided, the league cannot create the impression that a so-called “lifetime suspension” is open for reconsideration.

The fact that we are even discussing this in February 2025—nearly 36 years after Giamatti’s ruling and five months after Rose’s passing—is due to two recent developments:

• MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has met with Rose’s family, who are petitioning to remove him from the ineligible list, which would restore his eligibility for Hall of Fame induction.
• Former President Donald Trump has weighed in. “Over the next few weeks, I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He never bet against himself or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history.”

Before continuing, let’s acknowledge that reveling in someone else’s downfall is a popular pastime these days. Maybe it’s just a passing trend—like Beanie Babies and the Macarena—that will eventually fade away. But for now, here we are. That said, let’s have a reasoned discussion about Pete Rose.

Rose, famously known as “Charlie Hustle,” was a complex and polarizing figure. Beyond baseball, he served five months in prison in 1990 for falsifying tax returns. In 2017, allegations surfaced in a defamation lawsuit claiming he had engaged in a relationship with a minor, though no charges were filed. To his supporters, Rose was a man consumed by his love for the game, from the moment he picked up a bat as a child in Cincinnati. I’m old enough to remember the electricity he brought to the field. As a 19-year-old college sophomore attending Game 1 of the 1975 World Series at Fenway Park, I felt like I was witnessing the very essence of baseball when the public address announcer called his name.

But both of these things can be true: Rose was an extraordinary player, and Rose had an insatiable competitive drive that extended beyond the field. The Dowd Report revealed that he bet on 57 Reds games in 1987 while managing the team. His defenders, including the former president, argue that he only bet on the Reds to win. But that argument doesn’t hold up. If a manager is betting on his own team, it inevitably affects his decision-making—not just for the game in question but also for the games before and after. It’s that simple.

Sports betting is now legal across most of the United States. The leagues have embraced it. So have media companies—including this one, which runs advertisements for sportsbooks (The Athletic, for instance, has a partnership with BetMGM). A few years ago, DraftKings ran a commercial featuring Boston sports legends David Ortiz and Zdeno Chara, among others, celebrating gambling as if it were just another form of entertainment.

Yet one fundamental rule remains unchanged: If you play, coach, or manage in Major League Baseball, you cannot bet on the game. We’ve already seen instances of players, officials, and coaches getting caught up in gambling controversies, and there will likely be more to come.

Rose’s accomplishments are undeniable. He holds the all-time record for career hits with 4,256. He was a Rookie of the Year, an MVP, a three-time batting champion, a two-time Gold Glove winner, and a 17-time All-Star. He played for three World Series-winning teams as part of Cincinnati’s legendary Big Red Machine. He was the relentless Charlie Hustle, sprinting to first base after drawing a walk. He even received the prestigious Roberto Clemente Humanitarian Award in 1976.

But he bet on baseball. That’s why he was banned. That’s why he should remain ineligible.