Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred met with Pete Rose yesterday to discuss his possible reinstatement. The league released a statement on the matter:
MLB statement regarding meeting with Pete Rose. pic.twitter.com/WiVEQBkDQL
— MLB (@MLB) September 25, 2015
Rose, of course, received a lifetime ban from MLB in 1989 after accusations that he had gambled on baseball games while managing the Cincinnati Reds, charges he would eventually admit to in his 2004 autobiography. The all-time hit king has frequently petitioned to have his punishment lifted over the years, but to no avail.
However, when Manfred took over for the retiring Bud Selig at the beginning of the year, he publicly expressed a willingness to reevaluate a variety of popular issues throughout the sport, Rose’s case being among them.
That case took a significant hit back in June, though, when ESPN’s Outside the Lines reported on new evidence that suggested Rose bet on games as a player as well, a claim he has continuously denied even after his earlier admission.
Rose remained relatively mum on the renewed controversy, stating in August:
"“What I’m going to do — and I’m not the kind of guy who ever ducks a question — but I’m going to meet with the commissioner in the near future, and believe me when I tell you I’m going to tell the commissioner everything that I did, good bad and indifferent, and we’ll go from there.”"
With an astonishing 4,256 hits to his name, the man famously called “Charlie Hustle” would under normal circumstances be a no-brainer addition to the Hall of Fame. Fans and media have debated for over two decades whether he deserves to be welcomed back into the fold.
Manfred has already reviewed one notable reinstatement case this year, denying an overturn of the ban given to Shoeless Joe Jackson for his supposed involvement in the “Black Sox” scandal to fix the 1919 World Series. Manfred cited an inability to verify the truth beyond a doubt 95 years after the fact.
With apparently numerous pieces of tangible evidence against Rose, what does that say about his chances? His case has always been more about forgiveness than exoneration.
We now know that the commissioner will decide whether to grant that forgiveness before the end of 2015. It is likely Rose’s last real chance to restore his legacy, unless he can somehow get in Manfred’s ear again later on in his tenure.