In a decision sure to send shockwaves through the baseball world, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred ruled Tuesday that players receiving lifetime bans will come off the ineligible list once they die. Notably, this means Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, among others, are now eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. was the first to report Manfred’s decision.
Major League Baseball issues policy decision on permanent ineligibility status after death: https://t.co/T4EA7Qyi8e pic.twitter.com/7Byd9syrV5
— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2025
Manfred Lifts Lifetime Bans on 17 Deceased Players, Including Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe
Manfred stated the crux of his rationale in a letter to Rose’s family lawyer: “Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game. Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve. Therefore, I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list.”
Per MLB’s statement, 17 now-deceased players who were on the permanently ineligible list are no longer on it. The two biggest names on the list have been subjects of controversy for decades. Pete Rose, who died last year at age 83, received and accepted a lifetime ban from baseball by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in 1989 after an investigation found he bet on games he managed for the Cincinnati Reds. MLB’s all-time hit king will now be eligible for admission to the Hall of Fame as early as 2028. His induction is far from certain, however, given his gambling scandal and a statutory rape allegation that came to light in the last decade.
Jackson received a lifetime ban along with seven of his Chicago White Sox teammates by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in 1921. The infamous “Black Sox” participated to varying degrees in a conspiracy involving gamblers to fix the 1919 World Series, which they lost to the Reds five games to three. Unlike Rose, Jackson did appear on Hall of Fame ballots for several years, but never got in.
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