Bud Selig Will Not Lift Pete Rose Ban

According to reports on Yahoo! and ESPN, baseball commissioner Bud Selig will not reinstate Pete Rose. Rose will be barred from baseball and the Hall of Fame for as long as Bud Selig is commissioner.

Rose was initially banned for life by baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in 1989 for gambling on baseball games while he was a player and manager of the Cincinnati Reds. The banning came three years after Rose played his last major league game as a player. At the time, Rose was the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, but decided to voluntarily accept a permanent place on baseball's ineligible list, and he was replaced on the Reds by interim manager Tommy Helms. Giamatti spent less than six months as commissioner, as he died unexpectedly of a heart attack.

Starting in 1989, Rose denied ever betting on baseball games every chance he got. Finally after fifteen years of denying, Rose came clean, admitting in his autobiography, My Prison Without Bars, that he had bet on baseball games and other sports while playing for and managing the Reds. Rose also admitted to betting on Reds games, but never against them. During an interview in 2007, Rose said, "I bet on my team every night. I didn't bet on my team four nights a week. I bet on my team to win every night because I loved my team, I believed in my team. I did everything in my power every night to win that game."

Rose was granted a concession in which he could apply for reinstatement once a year for as long as he lived. As of 2006, he has applied for reinstatement twice. Commissioners Fay Vincent and Bud Selig have both refused to act on the respective reinstatement requests, and Rose remains permanently ineligible.

Rose has had a Hall of Fame career but because of his gambling, he may never get his place in Cooperstown. Rose was one of the best players in baseball history with numerous accomplishments. Rose was a player for 23 MLB seasons, 18 of those seasons with the Cincinnati Reds. He holds the all-time major league record in hits (4,256), games played (3,256), at-bats (14,053), and outs (10,328). Rose has won three World Series in his career (1975, 1976, 1980), was a 17-time All-Star selection, one MVP Award, two Gold Gloves, and three batting titles. Rose had a 44-game hit streak in 1978, and managed the Reds for five seasons.

Selig had thought a while of reinstating Rose and lifting the ban before deciding against it. Rose's best chance to get reinstated next, seems to be after the 2012 season, when Selig's contract runs out. Maybe the next baseball commissioner will be remorseful and think that Rose has done his time, and should be eligible for the Hall of Fame.