The Major League Baseball Commissioner has decided that “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and Pete Rose are eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame since they are dead. Yes, you read that correctly. Typical of the modern pusillanimous bureaucrat, Rob Manfred has written a letter to the family of the late Pete Rose that Rose will now be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame because he is dead. Can you say “Justice Denied”?

So typical of everything we have come to despise about the “Deep State”. It’s the same concept that stultifies many old organizations today. Large corporations, sports groups, clubs and government. Middle management attitude. Living death. Paper-ushing zombies. Our Carol wrote about the possibility of a Pete Rose pardon on March 2 of this year, “Donald Trump Bets on Pete Rose: A Pardon Years in the Making”. Those of us who grew up near Cincinnati loved Sparky Anderson and the Big Red Machine.

Through intermediaries, Rose bet on a lot of games, finally admitting that he placed bets against his own team much late. He served five months in prison for tax evasion.

The name “Shoeless” Joe Jackson is know to most of us because of the movie Field of Dreams with the cornfield. In 1919, Jackson was paid $6,000.00 per year for his baseball skills. The claim is that eight members of the Chicago White Sox team threw World Series Games against the Cincinnati Reds.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AUrxBnW4AUY

According to Men’s Journal:

“At the trial in 1921, however, it took only two hours for a Chicago jury to render a verdict of not guilty on all counts,” the website explained. “Despite acquittal in a court of law, and without conducting an investigation, baseball’s newly appointed baseball commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, banned Jackson and seven other White Sox from playing professional baseball, sending a no-tolerance message regarding gambling in baseball.”

The White Sox players “allegedly” thought they were underpaid and that is why they best against their own team and for the Cincinnati Reds. My husband thinks “Shoeless” Joe was guilty. I am not so sure. The UPI believes he may be innocent:

Was ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson innocent after all? A new analysis of the left fielder’s performance during baseball’s infamous 1919 World Series suggests the answer is ‘yes,’ a researcher said Tuesday.

Statistician Jay Bennett said a detailed study of Jackson’s batting, fielding and base running during the series that led to his lifetime ban from major league baseball supports his claim that he did not sabotage his team’s chances for victory.

Jackson and seven other members of the Chicago White Sox were banished by then-baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis after revelations in 1920 that they were paid by professional gamblers to throw the series to the victorious Cincinnati Reds.

But Bennett, who works for the research consortium Bellcore in Red Bank, N.J., said his study shows Jackson’s batting made a greater contribution at the plate than that of any of his teammates during the series.

Pete Roose was guilty, but he wasn’t entirely all that bright. He daughter, Fawn and his son both have been stalwart defenders of their father and his accomplishments for 40 years. From the Post Millennial:

Major League Baseball announced Tuesday that it will remove Pete Rose and 16 other deceased individuals from the sport’s permanently ineligible list.

The decision, revealed in a statement from Commissioner Rob Manfred, follows a petition submitted by the Rose family and marks the first time the league has formally addressed whether posthumous bans should be maintained.

“In response to a petition from the family of Pete Rose, Commissioner Robert. D Manfred, Jr. today issued a policy decision regarding the status of 17 individuals who passed away while on the permanently ineligible list,” the league said in a statement.

Excerpts from Manfred’s letter to the Rose family’s lawyer outlined the rationale behind the move: “The question of whether an individual should remain on the permanently ineligible list after his death has never been formally addressed by Major League Baseball. Indeed, Mr. Rose is the first person banned by a Commissioner other than Kenesaw Mountain Landis to die while still on the ineligible list. As such, it is incumbent upon the Office of the Commissioner to reach a policy decision regarding this unprecedented issue in the modern era.”

The statement continues: “In my view, once an individual has passed away, the purpose of Rule 21 have been served. Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game. 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.”

Doesn’t that sound like something an officious little prig would write. Say that they are guilty as homemade sin and shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame. Or, say, oops, we made a mistake and they should rightfully have been voted into the Hall of Fame based on their career achievements. But, only a weasel would say, “It’s okay. They are dead now.” So middle manager type.

This was long planned, but today is Pete Rose’s 84th birthday and it is Pete Rose Day in Cincinnati:

What's your favorite Pete Rose memory? Today is Pete Rose Day, so haters can sit this one out.

Tonight is going to be a special moment for Reds fans, as the team honors the Hit King. So if you're going to the game (or are just a Pete fan), make sure you've got one of our many… pic.twitter.com/LtN8XSNPwC

— Cincy Shirts (@CincyShirts) May 14, 2025

And, if that isn’t enough to give you a huzz – tonight at 7:14 the Cincinnati Reds will play the Chicago White Sox at Great American Field in Cincinnati. There will be the Ghosts of Baseball Greats Past there.

Featured Image: Charles M. Conlon/Wikimedia Commons.org/cropped/Public Domain/Cincinnati Reds/Wikimedia Commons.org/cropped/Public Domain