Pete Rose’s Former Phillies Teammates Weigh In on Hall of Fame Case

The Philadelphia Phillies could see a former player make it into the Hall of Fame that few ever thought would actually get the chance.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred dropped a bombshell on Tuesday that any player's spot on the league's permanently ineligible list would expire after their death. That means the late Pete Rose can now be considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Cooperstown, N.Y.-based Hall of Fame does not consider players on the permanently ineligible list.

Rose has the most hits in baseball history with 4,256 and played the most games ever with 3,562. He had a career .303/.375/.409 slash line.

He was banned from baseball in 1989 after an investigation found evidence that he bet on the sport. He had his family sought reinstatement three different times and he was turned down each time.

He was mostly known for his time with the Cincinnati Reds, but he had a solid five-year career with the Phillies.

Tyler Kepner, David O'Brien and Jayson Stark of The Athletic (subscription required) recently spoke to current Hall of Famers about what they thought of Rose's case. Among those were a number of players that played with the controversial figure in Philadelphia.

Former Phillies Players on Pete Rose's Hall of Fame Case

Mike Schmidt made the Hall of Fame in the class of 1995. He is one of the top Phillies players of all time and played with Rose for five seasons.

Together, they won a World Series in 1980 made four All-Star teams together. There are few people more qualified to speak on his case. Schmidt was fair in his reaction to his former teammate's case.

"I think the Pete Rose question is always going to be divided, 50-50," said Schmidt. "There wasn’t remorse there. He didn’t show any atonement for his admission to betting on baseball. But at the same time, Pete Rose is one of the greatest players in the history of baseball, without question. Statistically and for what he did in his career, he would be a unanimous Hall of Famer."

Tony Perez played with Rose on two different teams — the Phillies and the Reds. He was much more forthcoming about his support for Rose being inducted.

"I always say what he did on the field is why he should be in the Hall of Fame," Perez said. "But this is great news. I’m happy that they are giving him the opportunity. They can vote for him and see if he can get in the Hall of Fame, because he should be in there."

Pitcher Jim Kaat played with Rose in Philadelphia in 1979 and was a member of the Cincinnati coaching staff in 1984 and 1985. Rose was the player-manager in 1984 and then a full-time manager in 1985.

Kaat gave some interesting background information on Rose, having known him for a very long time.

"For Pete, it was nothing about the Hall of Fame, it was not being involved in the game which was the most painful thing for him," said the 2002 inductee.

The general consensus seems to be that it if it was just going off of what Rose did on the field, it would be a no-brainer to let him in. It's just that Hall of Fame voters are a peculiar bunch and it will never be just that.