In May 2025, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred removed deceased MLB icon, Pete Rose, from the league’s permanently ineligible list. Rose, who passed in September 2024, was placed on permanent ineligibility following allegations that he had bet on baseball games while serving as a player/manager of the Cincinnati Reds. This decision opens the door to Rose’s eligibility for enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame.[1]
As of May 2018, professional baseball players in the MLB are now permitted to gamble on sports if their state allows it.[2] Still, they are subject to restrictions, as they are strictly forbidden from gambling on so-called “diamond sports,” which include baseball or softball games at any level. Rule 21 specifically states, “Any player, umpire or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.”[3]
While Rule 21 states that a player who is found to have been engaged in betting will be “permanently ineligible,” Manfred’s decision illustrates that permanent ineligibility does not extend beyond death. In making this decision, Manfred stated, “In my view, once an individual has passed away, the purposes of Rule 21 have been served . . . Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game. Moreover, it is hard to conceive a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve.”[4] In removing Pete Rose from the permanent ineligibility list, Manfred also removed 15 other deceased players from the banned list, some of whom include Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver, Lefty Williams, and Jimmy O’Connell.[5]
You can read more about current issues regarding Rule 21 discipline here.
[1] https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/pete-rose-reinstated-by-mlb-eligible-for-the-hall-of-fame-how-we-got-here-and-what-it-means-015535778.html?guccounter=1
[2] https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/39908218/a-line-sports-gambling-scandals-2018
[3] https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/guardians-pitchers-emmanuel-clase-and-luis-ortiz-remain-on-paid-leave-amid-mlbs-gambling-investigations/
[4] Supra, note 1.
[5] https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/45115659/pete-rose-shoeless-joe-jackson-players-reinstated-mlb