Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader who is banned from the sport for betting on games while a player and manager, should be in the Hall of Fame, President Trump said.
Trump, in a tweet Saturday, weighed in on one of the longest-running controversies in sports. In August 1989 — Rose’s final year as manager of the Cincinnati Reds and three years after retiring as a player — the MLB put him on the permanently ineligible list amid charges and claims he bet on his own team, a violation of the sport’s rules. In 1991, the Baseball Hall of Fame voted to ban those on the permanently ineligible list from induction; a move aimed squarely at Rose.
Rose last week asked MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to take him off the permanently ineligible list amid the burgeoning sign-stealing scandal with the Houston Astros.
“Pete Rose played Major League Baseball for 24 seasons, from 1963-1986, and had more hits, 4,256, than any other player (by a wide margin),” Trump tweeted. “He gambled, but only on his own team winning, and paid a decades long price. GET PETE ROSE INTO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME. It’s Time!”
Pete Rose played Major League Baseball for 24 seasons, from 1963-1986, and had more hits, 4,256, than any other player (by a wide margin). He gambled, but only on his own team winning, and paid a decades long price. GET PETE ROSE INTO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME. It’s Time!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2020
Rose’s place in the Hall of Fame is not a question of his achievements on the field, but his ethics.
Rose, 78, not only has the most hits but also leads the MLB in games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053), and singles (3,215). He won three World Series rings, with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980. Rose also won three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Golden Gloves, and the Rookie of the Year Award. He made 17 All-Star appearances and finished his career with a lifetime .303 average.
His critics say his baseball bans should continue, because he’s shown little contrition or remorse for violating a fundamental rule of the sport, not gambling on games in which a player is directly involved.
Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is also calling for Rose’s reinstatement.
“Having watched him play and even beat my Yankees, I completely agree with the President,” Giuliani tweeted Sunday. “Pete Rose has paid for his mistakes with a too long exile from the Hall. He was one of the best and most exciting ball players of his generation. It’s not complete without him. PUT PETE IN!”
Having watched him play and even beat my Yankees, I completely agree with the President. Pete Rose has paid for his mistakes with a too long exile from the Hall. He was one of the best and most exciting ball players of his generation. It’s not complete without him. PUT PETE IN! https://t.co/1Ug432NgDh
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) February 9, 2020
Rose was banned from baseball more than 30 years ago based on a report by John Dowd, which alleged Rose bet on 52 Reds games as manager in 1987, wagering a minimum of $10,000 a day. Dowd later went on to be Trump’s lawyer in the early stages of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
But Dowd finds himself allied with Giuliani since he represents Igor Fruman, a former associate of the New York City mayor who, with Lev Parnas, was arrested and indicted in October for funneling foreign money into U.S. elections. The pair of Soviet-born American citizens have been implicated in schemes to help Giuliani dig up political dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, a 2020 Democrat, in Ukraine. Dowd stopped representing Parnas when his client wanted to comply with requests for his testimony and records by the House Intelligence Committee.
