Manfred won’t lift life ban on Rose

Pedro Portal | MCT Pete Rose was denied reinstatement into Major League Baseball Monday by commissioner Rob Manfred. Manfred’s language echoed that of then-Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti, who banned Rose from Major League Baseball for life in 1989, writing, “The burden is entirely on Mr. Rose to reconfigure his life in a way he deems appropriate”.

“Mr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life either by an honest acceptance by him of his wrongdoing, … or by a rigorous, self-aware and sustained program of avoidance by him of all the circumstances that led to his permanent ineligibility in 1989”, Manfred wrote in his decision. Manfred wrote that allowing Rose to work in the game “presents an unacceptable risk” that he might again bet on the sport, a strict violation of baseball’s rules.

For nearly 15 years after being banned, Rose denied he bet on baseball, but in 2004 he admitted that he did so only when managing the Cincinnati Reds. He would eventually admit to these allegations in his 2004 autobiography, although he remained adamant that he only gambled on the game as a manager and never as an active player.

Twenty-six years later, Rose appealed for reinstatement early in 2015, and Manfred agreed to take a fresh look at the case.

Rose’s attorney, Raymond Genco, said Rose is “disappointed” by the decision, which he will address in a news conference Tuesday.

“It was great opinion”, Dowd said.

After he accepted a lifetime ban in 1989, Rose saw a counselor who concluded he had a gambling problem and shouldn’t make any bets. I can guarantee you there are guys in baseball right now who play DraftKings or FanDuel on a regular basis. “Pete regards the institution of the game as what matters most”, Genco said.

But in a move that could leave the door open for Rose’s election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., Manfred wrote that it’s not his job to determine Rose’s eligibility there. Rose has long maintained that he only bet on games while serving as a manager but evidence has surfaced suggesting otherwise.

Rose applied for reinstatement under Commissioner Bud Selig in 1997 and 2002, but Selig never ruled on the request. We also appreciate that the Commissioner stated that Hall of Fame consideration is a separate issue and we and the fans think he deserves that opportunity. Ultimately, I gave the report little weight because the factual background recited in it is inconsistent with what Mr. Rose told me during our meeting.

So even when Rose had the chance to sit down with the commissioner and sell himself – at a time in which he should be as ideal and charming and endearing as possible – he was still lying about whether he bet on baseball.