Why was Pete Rose banned from baseball? Stats, records by MLB's all-time hits leader
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred removed the lifetime bans from legendary players Pete Rose and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. The pair are two of baseball's most infamous players.
Jackson was part of the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal, a group of eight players on the Chicago White Sox who were bribed into throwing World Series games.
Rose, meanwhile, a 24-year MLB veteran between 1963 and 1986, is MLB's all-time career hits leader. However, he was banned from baseball in 1989 after being caught betting on games while he was managing the Cincinnati Reds.
That said, in the decades since Rose's ban, the narrative around him has shifted. Some believed that while Rose should not have bet on games, it's impossible to tell the story of baseball without mentioning him, meaning he should be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Despite pleas, Rose's ban was never lifted.
Here's everything Rose accomplished during his storied career.
Pete Rose stats
To this day, Rose remains MLB's all-time leader in games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053), plate appearances (15,890) and hits (4256). He remains one of only two players with 4,000 career hits (Ty Cobb with 4,189) and the only one to accomplish the feat since 1930. In fact, only one player (Hank Aaron with 3,771) is within 500 hits of Rose's record.
Rose is also a three-time World Series champion, twice with the Reds (1975, 1976) and once with the Philadelphia Phillies (1980). He was named World Series MVP in 1975.
He was a 17-time All-Star, three-time batting champ, two-time Gold Glove winner, and a Silver Slugger recipient. Keep in mind, too, that the Silver Slugger was not an award until 1980. Rose was also an elite table-setter and was immaculate on the basepaths, leading the National League in runs scored on four occasions.
Rose was 1963 NL Rookie of the Year, and he was also named NL MVP in 1973. He finished top 10 in MVP voting nine other times.
Why was Pete Rose banned?
In 1989, as manager of the Reds, Rose fell under the scrutiny of MLB after betting slips belonging to Rose were found in an Ohio restaurant. Reports later identified that the owner of the restaurant, Ron Peters, as well as one of Rose's friends, Paul Janszen, were running bets for Rose.
Rose denied these claims. MLB commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti ran a full investigation beginning in April 1989. The investigation revealed that not only was Rose betting on games, but that he'd even consider throwing games if there was a large enough bet.
Janszen told investigator John Dowd, "He would talk about his gambling in front of a lot of people. And his answer for that always was, 'They can't get me,'" Janszen said. "He put himself above everything. 'They can't get me,' he'd say. 'What have they got? What are they going to prove? How are they going to prove it?'"
Janszen also claimed that Rose had some serious losses as a gambler, noting a $450,000 loss the Reds' manager endured across three months in 1987.
Rose vehemently denied ever gambling on baseball. Despite that, though, Rose signed an agreement with Giamatti on Aug. 24, 1989, declaring himself permanently ineligible from baseball.
Rose would eventually admit to betting on baseball, even writing a book in 2004 titled "My Prison without Bars," where he admitted to betting on games, and even on the Reds. Still, Rose maintained some level of innocence about it all. In the book, he wrote, "During the times I gambled as a manager, I never took an unfair advantage. I never bet more or less based on injuries or inside information … I never allowed my wagers to influence my baseball decisions. So in my mind, I wasn't corrupt."