When MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday that Pete Rose and 16 others who had been on baseball’s permanently ineligible list would be reinstated because they had died, the immediate question was: So Rose is going right into the Hall Fame, right?
The immediate answer is no. The longer answer is that Rose, who died in September at age 83, and the others can now be voted on for future induction classes, something the Hall of Fame confirmed Tuesday.
Before we get into the nitty gritty, here is a list of the reinstated players and why they were suspended for life:
*Involved in 1919 Black Sox scandal
Not every person on this list had the credentials to be a Hall of Fame player (and Cox was an owner). But Rose — MLB’s career hits leader — and Jackson grabbed all the headlines with Tuesday’s announcement. After all, they are the two most famous figures when it comes to baseball and gambling. Rose also had other issues off the field that involved sex with a girl under 16 while he was a player in the 1970s.
What happens now? Let’s explore.
Will The Writers Vote Them In?
No. The eligibility for all 17 of these individuals to be considered by the Baseball Writers Association of America has expired. Rose is the most recent player of all involved, and his playing career ended in 1986. Rose was manager of the Cincinnati Reds for 41 games in 1984 until his suspension after 125 games in 1989 by then-Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti. His managerial career did not affect his BBWAA eligibility, so Rose would have been first eligible to be elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992. At that time, players were allowed to be on a ballot for 15 years (since reduced to 10), so his time on the ballot would have expired in 2006.
That means the traditional method of the BBWAA electing players will not include Rose on the next or future ballots as things stand now.
How Can They Get In?
The Hall of Fame has other avenues for players to be enshrined. One is the Classic Baseball Era Committee, which considers individuals in the game before 1980 (including the Negro Leagues), and the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, which includes individuals from 1980 on. The contemporary panel is divided into two parts, one for players and the other for managers, executives and umpires. Each of those three rotate election years.
Rose, Jackson, and the others fall into the classic category. That group just had its turn at the voting booth, with Dick Allen and Dave Parker being voted in and set to be enshrined this summer. Contemporary players will be on the ballot for induction in 2026 and managers, executives and umpires in 2027. That leaves the reinstated players eligible to be voted on during the Winter Meetings in 2027 and be included in the Hall of Fame ceremony in 2028.
Who Is On The Committees?
The Hall of Fame is in charge of all three committees. In a number of changes announced in March, the Hall clarified that the Historical Overview Committee, which forms the eight-person ballots for each of the three panels, will have its members approved by the board of directors. The Historical Overview Committee is comprised of BBWAA members. There are 16 voters on each of the three eras committees. The voters include former players, executives, and historians, with 12 votes (75%) required to get to Cooperstown. That means Rose, Jackson, and anyone else would need to first survive the Historical Overview Committee’s screening process, then receive at least 12 votes from the Classic Baseball Era Committee.
Could the Hall of Fame, with its various levels of approval, stack the committee in 2027 toward Rose and Jackson? Sure, that is definitely a possibility.
But also remember that the Hall of Fame was the entity that created the rule in 1991 to keep Rose — and others on the permanently ineligible list — off the ballot to begin with.
