Last year, MLB reinstated the Reds legend Pete Rose from the ineligible list and made him eligible for the MLB Hall of Fame. But 12 months later, “Charlie Hustle” is still waiting. While there’s no longer a lifetime ban on Rose, his name has yet to reach Cooperstown, leaving the POTUS unimpressed.
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In 2025, President Donald Trump successfully got MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to pardon and reinstate Rose. He is once again calling out the league for delaying the Hall of Fame induction
“I think Pete Rose should have been in the Baseball Hall of Fame a long time ago—a long time ago, before his death,” Trump recently said. “I think baseball did a great disservice by not respecting his achievements on the field. He was a great player.”
In 1989, Rose was banned for life from MLB after an investigation concluded that he had made bets on baseball games while managing the Reds. In 2004, after years of demanding innocence, Rose finally admitted the gambling charges. Rose’s reinstatement request made in 2015 was also denied for the same reason. But only after his demise in 2024, Trump took the matter into his hands.
In early 2025, Trump pushed for a posthumous pardon for Rose. He emphasized that Rose only bet on his team to win. He even criticized MLB for excluding him from the Hall of Fame.
“I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING,” Trump said in February 2025.
After that public statement, Manfred rushed to the White House to meet the POTUS. Rose was subsequently removed from the banned list in May. “The president was one of several voices that were supportive of the idea that this was the right decision,” Manfred said last May. That move finally made Rose eligible for Cooperstown. However, his name had yet to be nominated, which may have infuriated Trump.
.@POTUS: "I think Pete Rose should have been in the Baseball Hall of Fame a long time ago—a long time ago, before his death. I think baseball did a great disservice by not respecting his achievements on the field. He was a great player."
In terms of records and stats, we can’t help but agree with the POTUS that such a legend as Pete Rose should be recognized. Rose is MLB’s all-time hits leader (4,256). So, a discussion of the history of MLB is not possible without mentioning him. Moreover, he also holds the record for playing the most games (3,562), plate appearances (15,890), and at-bats (14,053).
And not to forget, he was a 17x All-Star! So, Rose deserves a Hall of Fame, but then again, his tainted past comes in between.
MLB reinstating Rose meant the league has come past all his history, so why not put him in Cooperstown? The POTUS wonders, and so do we.
Cooperstown’s history justifies the induction of Pete Rose
MLB has always been incredibly strict on gambling. The most recent example was the Guardians’ Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase, who were banned for gambling charges last year.
However, the Hall of Fame already has plenty of players with controversial pasts.
The Red Sox’s legend, David Ortiz, was inducted in 2022. However, he was reportedly among the players who tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance during the 2003 survey testing. While Manfred later cautioned that the 2003 list contained false positives, voters largely excused Ortiz’s single early test because he passed testing for the final decade of his career.
Then, Mike Piazza was inducted in 2016. He was dogged by rumors of steroid use throughout his career and admitted in his autobiography to using androstenedione early in his career. The reason was that androstenedione was legal initially until it was banned by MLB in 2004.
So, with such names already on the Hall of Fame list, many believe Rose can be excused as well. It surely feels odd to see the MLB Hall of Fame without the player with the most hits. Last time, Trump’s push made MLB reinstate Rose. This time, as he again calls out the league, Pete Rose might now get a place in Cooperstown.
