Pete Rose Said He Believed He'd Make Baseball Hall of Fame 'After I Die'

MLB legend Pete Rose, who died on Sept. 30, believed he would someday be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but likely after his death.

"I've come to the conclusion—I hope I'm wrong—that I'll make the Hall of Fame after I die," he told Dayton sportscaster John Condit in a documentary interview on Sept. 20 (h/t 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? What's the point? What's the point? Because they'll make money over it?"

The Hall of Fame candidacy for Rose—who was deemed permanently ineligible for the Hall after gambling on the sport, a ruling that has been upheld since 1989—has become a topic yet again after Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would pardon Rose and condemned MLB for not putting him in the Hall of Fame.

It's unclear what crime Trump would be pardoning outside of potentially tax evasion charges from 1990, which included a five-month prison sentence for Rose after he pleaded guilty.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, meanwhile, is reportedly considering a reinstatement petition from attorney Jeffrey Lenkov and Rose's oldest daughter, Fern Rose, per ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr..

Lenkov said that Manfred "was respectful, gracious, and actively participated in productive discussions regarding removing Rose from the ineligible list," during a one-hour meeting between the parties, and said the petition was filed "so that we could seek induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which had long been [Rose's] desire and is now being sought posthumously by his family."

Manfred previously rejected a reinstatement petition from Rose in 2015.

Even if Rose was reinstated, it would not guarantee his induction into the Hall of Fame, though he would be permitted to appear on the voting ballot. Baseball writers have not looked kindly on players who were involved in the steroids scandals of the 1990s and early 2000s, so it's unclear how favorably they would view Rose, who admitted to gambling on games while he was the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, though said he only bet on his team to win.