Commissioner Rob Manfred announced today that the policy related to deceased players and their status on the permanently ineligible list will be modified. Manfred ruled in an open letter that the punishment for these players and their actions that had them placed on the list will end upon their deaths.

“Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred said in a letter to Jeffrey M. Lenkov, the attorney for Rose, that was part of the published note from MLB. “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.”

With this ruling, Rose is now eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Alongside Rose, 16 others are also now officially off the list, such as ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver, Eugene Paulette, and others.

Rose, the game’s hit king, was placed on the list under Commissioner Giamatti for his involvement in ties to gamblers and bookmakers related to betting on baseball while managing the Cincinnati Reds. Rose died last year.

Jackson and seven others on the 1919 Chicago White Sox squad were banned for their involvement in the 1919 World Series for conspiring with gamblers to throw the series. He and all the other players involved in the infamous ‘Black Sox scandal’ are now all eligible for Cooperstown.

With these players and one owner all deceased, they will not be eligible under the current ballot that would involve players on the modern ballot, and instead under the Historical Overview Committee. Based on this, Jackson and Rose would be eligible under the Classic Baseball Era Committee, which won’t be on the ballot until December of 2027 and the 2028 Hall of Fame Class.

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