Pete Rose Seeks Reinstatement

Rob Manfred said Monday that Pete Rose has formally reapplied to have his lifetime ban lifted. That decision would be Manfred's, so the Major League Baseball Players Association would have no jurisdiction in the matter and likely would not even be asked for its input. 

Image Credit: (Photo: Al Behrman, AP)

Manfred said Monday that he would take some time to consider whether or not to lift Rose's lifetime ban from the game. Former commissioners Fay Vincent and Bud Selig never even considered Rose's previous efforts towards reinstatement.

Rose was convinced that Bud Selig would pardon him before he left office three weeks ago, lifting his ban and finally opening the door to let the voters decide whether he'll be inducted into the Hall of Fame. 

Rose, of course, received a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989 amid allegations that he bet on games both as a player and a manger for the Cincinnati Reds. During his playing days Rose set and still holds the record with 4,256 career hits.

Count Director of the MLB Players Union Tony Clark among those who support Pete Rose' bid for reinstatement. "I would love to see Pete reinstated," Clark said, after meeting with players for the Detroit Tigers during his annual tour of spring training according to ESPN's Jayson Stark. "He made a decision. He made a decision that was not the right decision. He made a decision that he has paid a price for."

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he thinks there will come a time "when we all kind of move on." Mattingly said he first met Rose in a spring training game when Rose was playing for the Montreal Expos. "I got a hit off somebody, and he said, '200 a year, kid. Just get 200 a year. 'Any time I see him, I love seeing him," Mattingly said. "Obviously, as a kid, I loved Pete and the way he played. I'm not going to get into all the politics and everything that goes along with that, but I love Pete and I think Pete's a great player."

"I just want to be on that writers' ballot,'' Rose says. "Let the writers decide. If they want me in, I'm in. If they don't feel I should be in, I can live with it. Once they lift my ban, I should be just like anyone else. If I've never been on the ballot, my clock should start at zero. That will give them 10 years to decide, if they need it.''

"I'll always have hope," Rose says. "That's all I've got."

Do you think the all-time MLB hit leader faced enough punishment? Or do you think Pete Rose should be banned from Major League Baseball for life? 

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Christine O'Connor