Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has moved to lift the lifetime suspensions of Pete Rose, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and several other players.
The ruling was included a letter Manfred wrote to attorney Jeffrey Lenkov, who had petitioned for Rose’s ban to be lifted earlier this year.
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WATCH HEREManfred told Lenkov that lifetime bans would be lifted upon the death of an individual, and as a result Rose, Jackson and numerous other players will have their bans lifted.
It is believed that the move will also pave the way for those players to be eligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
Rose retired as baseball’s all-time hit leader, but was banned for life after it was revealed that he had bet on games, including while he was manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
Rose had long sought reinstatement and had admitted to betting on games before passing away in 2024 at the age of 83.
Jackson was one of eight played who was banned from baseball amid the infamous Black Sox scandal, which saw players conspire to throw the 1919 World Series between the White Sox and Cincinnati Reds.
MLB
The scandal is one of the most infamous in baseball history, inspiring films like “Eight Men Out” and a concerted effort to clear Jackson’s name.
Jackson hit 12 extra-base hits in the 1919 World Series, with many experts questioning whether he had participated in the conspiracy.
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SIGN UP Jackson batted .356 in his MLB career, one of the highest batting averages in the history of the sport. He drove in 785 RBI’s and posted an on-base percentage of .423 in 1,332 career games.
The decision by Manfred reinstates not just Jackson but also Eddie Cicotte, Oscar Felsch, Buck Weaver, Charles Risberg, Fred McMullin, Lefty Williams, and Chick Gandil.
