Reinstated

Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned from baseball for life in 1921.  That was 104 years ago.  He's been dead for 74 of those years.  Pete Rose, meanwhile, received a lifetime ban in 1991.  He spent most of the next 33 years until his death in September hoping for reinstatement, only to have his requests repeatedly denied.  Now, seven months after his lifetime ended, so has his lifetime ban.  Shoeless Joe's has too.

In a somewhat shocking announcement on Tuesday, Commissioner Rob Manfred removed both Rose and Jackson, as well as 14 other deceased players and one deceased owner from MLB's permanently ineligible list.  His rationale for removing their lifetime bans is exactly that.  They're "lifetime" bans.  As such, a lifetime ban ends upon that person's death.  And, since players who are on MLB's ineligible list are also ineligible for the Hall of Fame, that ban no longer applies either.  Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson are once again eligible for Hall of Fame induction.

While there are still some people who are disappointed with the Commissioner's decision, this is welcome news to many.  It seemed awfully hypocritical of MLB, with its newfound acceptance and embrace of gambling, to keep the bans in place when all but one of the ineligible individuals was banned for that very reason.  Especially since so many of these men have long since passed away.

On paper, Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson are Hall of Famers.  Rose is the all-time hit king.  Jackson has the fourth-highest batting average in history.  If not for being on the ineligible list, they likely both would've had plaques in Cooperstown long ago.  While it's by no means a certainty that they eventually will, it's now at least a possibility.

Their names won't even appear on a Hall of Fame ballot until December 2027, however.  That's the next time candidates from the Classic Baseball Era (which considers those whose primary contributions came before 1980) will be up for election.  And that's assuming their names are even put on the ballot (although, I can't think of a reason why Rose's won't).  Once his name finally appears, it'll be the first time Pete Rose even has a chance at getting into the Hall of Fame, which is by no means a slam dunk.

If it were based strictly on statistics, Pete Rose would be as big a Hall of Fame lock as there's ever been.  It's not that simple, though.  There's also a morality clause, so, ban or no ban, all of that other stuff will come into play.  He also needs to get 12 of 16 votes.  If just five of the voters on that committee have their reservations about Pete Rose, for whatever reason, he won't get in.  It's really hard to predict which way that will go.  Especially since it's two and a half years from now!  We don't know who the other candidates will be or even who'll be on the committee.

You can bet that Pete Rose's Hall of Fame candidacy will be hotly debated until then.  I just have a feeling, though, that both he and Shoeless Joe will continue to be in Hall of Fame purgatory.  The only difference is that now their names can appear on an Eras Committee ballot whereas previously they couldn't.  Some voters feel a certain way about them and that hasn't changed.  As a result, I think they could get the Bonds/Clemens treatment and keep not getting in despite being eligible.

Manfred met with Rose's eldest daughter and lawyer in December, which got the ball rolling on his reinstatement.  All of Rose's previous requests were denied, but Manfred began to reconsider after his death, at which point the reinstatement only seemed a matter of time.  Waiting until 2027 won't satisfy Rose's lawyer or family, either.  His lawyer already said that he'll push for induction as soon as possible (which is up to the voters, not the Hall of Fame itself).  And it is conceivable that Rose, who played until 1986, could be included in this winter's Era Committee ballot for Post-1980 players (even though the bulk of his career was in the 60s and 70s).

I also can't help but notice the timing and how all of this has really come full circle.  Kenesaw Mountain Landis was made Baseball's first commissioner in 1920 primarily because of the Black Sox scandal.  One of his first acts was to ban all eight players--including Shoeless Joe Jackson--from baseball for life.  Landis was also vehemently opposed to the game's integration.  He passed away in 1944 and Jackie Robinson's debut was in the works not too long after that.

Bart Giamatti is the commissioner who banned Pete Rose, but he died of a heart attack just a week later and was succeeded by Fay Vincent.  Vincent was vehemently opposed to Rose's reinstatement, both during his tenure as commissioner and after.  He passed away in February, only a few months after Rose.  Now, with both Vincent and Rose himself no longer with us, the time was right for Rose's (and Jackson's) ban to come to an end.

We're talking about two very different individuals and two very different Hall of Fame cases here, too.  Pete Rose obviously has the numbers.  His on-field credentials were never in doubt and are the crux of the argument for his supporters.  He was also one of the biggest stars in the game during the 1970s.  I don't even think the gambling is frowned upon as much now.  The repeated denials and other character flaws certainly won't help his case, though.

As for Shoeless Joe Jackson, he, of course, was implicated in the biggest scandal in baseball history--the Chicago White Sox throwing the 1919 World Series.  All eight players involved in the fix, including Jackson, were banned for life in 1921.  The degree to which Jackson actually participated in the scheme has been debated ever since.  He admitted to taking $5,000 from the gamblers, but later recanted that confession.  And his series stats sure don't look like those of a guy who was trying to lose.  However, simply knowing about the plot was enough, and it's been a black mark against Shoeless Joe Jackson's name for more than a century.

With the benefit of time, most now agree that Jackson's punishment was too harsh.  Especially since it's questionable how much involvement he actually had in the Black Sox Scandal, which is really the only thing that's impacting his candidacy.  Jackson was technically eligible for the Hall of Fame until the 1991 ruling, but he never came close to induction because of his lifetime ban.  It's also worth noting that his career was cut short because of the ban.  His numbers, which were already spectacular, likely would've been even better.

A little over a week before his death, Pete Rose gave his final interview.  In it, he predicted that he'd eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame, but only after he was dead.  He was probably right.  While I don't think it's as much of a lock as some others might, I do think Pete Rose will get into the Hall of Fame somewhere down the line, even if it's not right away.  There's a lot of enthusiasm about his reinstatement from fans and former teammates alike.  (Mike Schmidt called it "A great day for baseball.")

It should be a little more straightforward for Shoeless Joe Jackson.  His ineligibility was vastly different than Pete Rose's.  Yes, the Black Sox Scandal was one of the worst things ever to happen to Major League Baseball, and that was the basis for Shoeless Joe Jackson's ban.  However, that was over a century ago and the degree of his involvement's in question.  Even some of those who agreed with his lifetime ban feel that he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

When his name appears on the Classic Baseball Era ballot in 2027, don't be surprised if Shoeless Joe Jackson is elected to the Hall of Fame.  It wouldn't be a shock to see Pete Rose join him somewhere along the line, too.  Even if they don't get in, though, the fact that we're even talking about their Hall of Fame candidacies as something that exist in reality and not just hypotheticals is a huge, long overdue step.  For the first time in 34 years, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose are eligible for the Hall of Fame.  It's about time.