President Trump said Friday he would posthumously pardon Cincinnati Reds player and manager Pete Rose, who had served in prison for tax evasion and had been banned from the Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame over gambling allegations.
“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. He never betted against himself, or the other team,” Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Rose is the all-time leader in hits, with 4,256, and in games played, at 3,562. Rose also led the National League in batting average in 1968, 1969 and 1973, won the National League MVP award in 1973 and was declared World Series MVP in 1975 after the Reds beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games.
Rose, who died in September at age 83, was ruled permanently ineligible from baseball and the National Baseball Hall of Fame over allegations that he bet on baseball games during his time as a manager, including those played by the Reds. He later admitted to betting on the games in the 2004 book “My Prison Without Bars.”
Though ESPN has also claimed that Rose bet on games as a player, Rose never admitted that he did so.
Rose also pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 1990, leading to five months in prison, and a woman claimed in a sworn statement in 2017 that she and Rose had been in a sexual relationship in the 1970s before she turned 16, the age of consent in Ohio, according to ESPN.
Mr. Trump did not specify what exactly he was pardoning Rose of doing, though he called on MLB and the National Baseball Hall of Fame to induct Rose.
“Major League Baseball didn’t have the courage or decency to put the late, great, Pete Rose, also known as ‘Charlie Hustle,’ into the Baseball Hall of fame … Baseball, which is dying all over the place, should get off its fat, lazy a—, and elect Pete Rose, even though far too late, into the Baseball Hall of Fame!,” Mr. Trump wrote in the post.
Due to his permanent ineligibility, Rose cannot be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame under a rule the hall adopted in 1991, according to The Associated Press.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly called for Rose to be inducted over the years, writing on what was then called Twitter in 2015 that he “Can’t believe Major League Baseball just rejected @PeteRose_14 for the Hall of Fame. He’s paid the price. So ridiculous — let him in!,” according to Rose’s AP obituary.
Shortly after Rose’s death, Mr. Trump again called for his induction, writing on Truth Social “The GREAT Pete Rose just died. He was one of the most magnificent baseball players ever to play the game. He paid the price! Major League Baseball should have allowed him into the Hall of Fame many years ago. Do it now, before his funeral!” according to the AP.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.