Pete Rose, 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson Eligible for Hall of Fame After MLB Lifts Bans

Pete Rose, who died in September, now has a path to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Per ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr., MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Tuesday that Rose, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and other deceased players have been removed from the league's permanently ineligible list. Rose and Jackson were among those banned for gambling on baseball.

As part of his announcement, Manfred ruled that the punishments of banned players end upon their deaths. The decision removes a total of 16 deceased players and one deceased owner from MLB's banned list.

"Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game," Manfred wrote in a letter to attorney Jeffrey M. Lenkov, who petitioned for Rose's removal from the list Jan. 8. "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."

The Baseball Hall of Fame released a statement after Tuesday's announcement:

The Reds also released a statement:

Rose, MLB's all-time leader in career hits, accepted a ban from then-MLB commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in August 1989 after a league investigation determined that he bet on games while he was the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Jackson was one of eight Chicago White Sox players banned from baseball in 1921 for infamously fixing the 1919 World Series in the "Black Sox Scandal."

The earliest Rose and Jackson can make the Hall of Fame is 2028, following the Classic Baseball Era Committee meeting in 2027.