Odd Timing for MLB's Reinstatement of Pete Rose and the Black Sox

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Gary Schatz | Last updated May 13, 2025 9:25 PM ET

Of all the ironies. Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson were removed from the ineligible list for the Baseball Hall of Fame on a day the ancient World Series of 1919 rivals played each other.

Shoeless Joe Jackson was a member of the 1919 White Sox that was on the short end of the series with the Cincinnati Reds.

It came to light nearly a year later when a former pitcher, Sleepy Bill Burns, went to infamous gambler Arnold Rothstein of New York.

Jackson took the bribe money to throw the series, but hit .375 in the 1919 series with three doubles and a home run in eight games. Eliot Asinof wrote a book on the subject titled “Eight Men Out.” It was turned into a movie of the same name in 1988.

Coincidentally, that was the year that Pete Rose was investigated for betting on baseball as a manager of the Reds. It ended in his suspension for life from baseball on August 23, 1989, by Bart Giamatti.

Rose maintained his innocence for years but finally admitted it when his biography came out. His claim that he only bet on his own team is moot; gambling was not allowed then.

Rob Manfred made the announcement. In part because Reds games are sponsored and broadcast by FanDuel, an online gambling site. Could the hypocrisy of that have spurred that decision? How can you continue a policy of a strict prohibition of gambling is now commonplace and a revenue stream?

If baseball really wanted to come clean, it would remove Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, whose hometown is less than 40 miles from Great American Ball Park in Millville, Ohio.

Landis maintained the color line from his appointment as the first baseball commissioner because, let’s face it, baseball owners had gambling interests for years. Landis claimed the best players on earth were in the Major Leagues but denied entry to Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige, and Oscar Charleston from participating in the Major Leagues, though several owners tried to obtain their services.

Baseball made a correction by including statistics from the Negroe Leagues with the MLB historical stats.

Wednesday, the Reds will honor the playing career of the man who broke Ty Cobb’s record for hits in a career with 4,256.

Current Red’s manager Terry Francona was a teammate of Rose’s and played for him in 1987, as did the father of current White Sox manager Will Venable, Max.

“We loved Pete,” Francona said. “When we were young players, he cared about us. He made us feel like we belonged. I don’t know what his family wants out of this, but I hope they get it.”

Pete Rose Jr. played and managed in the White Sox minor league system. In 2011, he managed Bristol in the Appalachian League.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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