All-time hit leader Pete Rose has officially petitioned the MLB for reinstatement. Rose is currently serving a lifetime ban from baseball due to gambling on games while he was manager for the Reds. Due to the ban, he is unable to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
MLB Network’s Jon Heyman broke down some of the language in the official petition.
Pete Rose has petitioned MLB and the Hall of Fame for reinstatement based on the recent Astros penalties. Rose “does not dispute the severity of his violations,” according to the filing, but in light of the recent rulings suggests his lifetime ban is “disproportionate”
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 5, 2020
As Heyman reported, Rose’s basis for the petition is the lack of punishment for the Astros’ cheating scandal. The Astros were caught using technology to steal signs, and the general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hicks were given one year long bans from the MLB. No players on the team were punished, despite knowing about and directly benefitting from the sign stealing.
The managerial ban and the lack of player punishment has given Rose the ammunition he feels like he needs for his ban to be lifted. Being that Hinch knew about the cheating and is banned for only one year, and no players at all were punished.
This is his second try for reinstatement, after being denied it in 2015 by then-Commissioner Bud Selig. The “Hit King” reportedly sent out the 20-page long petition through his lawyers.
The MLB has not released a statement on the issue.
Featured Image courtesy of John Minchillo/Associated Press
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