Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose died in September at the age of 83. Despite still holding the record for career hits with 4,256 hits, he is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He gambled on games while he was the manager of the Reds and was banned from baseball for life, which bars him from the Hall of Fame. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is now reviewing his case, which could finally land him in Cooperstown. Pete Rose said in his final interview that this Hall of Fame update could be coming once he was gone.
“I’ve come to the conclusion — I hope I’m wrong — that I’ll make the Hall of Fame after I die,” Rose said in a documentary interview 10 days before his death, obtained by ESPN. “Which I totally disagree with, because the Hall of Fame is for two reasons: your fans and your family. That’s what the Hall of Fame is for. Your fans and your family. And it’s for your family if you’re here. It’s for your fans if you’re here. Not if you’re 10 feet under. You understand what I’m saying?
“What good is it going to do me or my fans if they put me in the Hall of Fame couple years after I pass away,” he asked. “What’s the point? What’s the point? Because they’ll make money over it?”
Pete Rose is far from the only legendary baseball player not enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Alleged and confirmed steroid users who are all over the home-run record books are not in Cooperstown. And Shoeless Joe Jackson is not enshrined because of the 1919 Black Sox scandal.
If Rose makes the Hall of Fame posthumously, there will be people who are angry because he did not get to see it. But there will also be some who are happy he gets his place among the game’s greats.
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