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Over the weekend, there was a report that Rob Manfred was considering reinstating Pete Rose, who passed away last fall, from the permanently ineligible list. Rose has been on the list since 1989, having accepted the sentence for gambling on baseball.
Rose deserved his punishment and did nothing in his life to stop deserving it. Were Manfred and MLB to remove Rose from the list to chase some cheap positive publicity, it would be a disservice to the players who walk past Rule 21(d) every single day and don’t bet on the game, don’t violate the One Rule of baseball.
Rose’s supporters cite MLB’s modern embrace of gambling in support of Rose’s reinstatement. It is, in fact, the opposite. More than ever, MLB needs Rose’s banishment for betting on baseball to stand as the example to all players: No one can ever break Rule 21(d). If we can punish Pete Rose, an all-time great and one of the most popular players ever, for betting on baseball, we can certainly punish you.
Rose’s well-earned punishment is the single best deterrent MLB has against future gambling scandals.
