President Donald Trump plans to pardon baseball legend Pete Rose posthumously, challenging Major League Baseball’s decades-long stance against the all-time hits leader who was banned for life due to gambling.
Quick Takes
- Trump announced plans to sign a complete pardon for Pete Rose, who was banned from MLB for life due to gambling
- Rose, who passed away last year at 83, holds MLB records for most hits, games played, at-bats, singles, and outs
- Despite admitting in 2004 to betting on baseball games, Rose maintained he never bet against his own team
- Trump criticized MLB for excluding Rose from the Hall of Fame despite his remarkable career achievements
- The specific implications of the posthumous pardon remain unclear, particularly regarding Rose’s Hall of Fame eligibility
Trump’s Announcement and Reasoning
President Donald Trump declared his intention to pardon baseball legend Pete Rose in the coming weeks. The announcement, shared on Truth Social, takes aim at Major League Baseball’s long-standing ban that has kept Rose out of the Hall of Fame despite his record-setting career. Trump specifically addressed the gambling issue that led to Rose’s lifetime ban, acknowledging that while Rose shouldn’t have bet on baseball, he emphasized that Rose only wagered on his team winning games, never against his own team.
“Over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete pardon of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on his team winning,” Trump stated. This move represents a significant challenge to MLB’s stance on gambling within the sport, particularly when it involves active players and managers. Rose’s punishment has long been viewed by many fans as disproportionately harsh given his contributions to the game.
Rose plead guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns and was banned from MLB from a sports betting scandal. https://t.co/I9pLEhoDxC
— NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) March 2, 2025
Rose’s Record-Breaking Career
Pete Rose’s baseball career spanned from 1963 to 1986, primarily with the Cincinnati Reds. His achievements on the field remain unmatched in several categories. Rose accumulated 4,256 hits, the most in MLB history, along with records for games played, at-bats, singles, and outs. He was a key player in three World Series championships and earned numerous individual accolades throughout his career, making his absence from the Hall of Fame particularly controversial among baseball enthusiasts.
“He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history,” Trump said in his social media post.
The president’s focus on Rose’s statistical achievements highlights the disconnect between Rose’s on-field excellence and his permanent exclusion from baseball’s highest honor. Trump’s pardon appears designed to recognize Rose’s playing career while acknowledging that his gambling activities, although against MLB rules, were not as egregious as betting against his own team would have been—a distinction that many of Rose’s supporters have emphasized for years.
And see as Crocked As baseball has been the owners they were all the part of the steroid scandal but only Pete Rose should be kept out of baseball😂😂😂😂😂😂 Put him in https://t.co/F2bkIMphiy
— Boldtiming (@boldtiming) March 1, 2025
Implications and Limitations of the Pardon
The practical implications of Trump’s pardon remain unclear. Presidential pardons typically apply to federal crimes, and Rose did plead guilty to felony charges of filing false tax returns in 1990. However, MLB’s lifetime ban is an organizational decision, not a legal one, raising questions about whether the pardon will influence Rose’s eligibility for the Hall of Fame. MLB has maintained a strict stance against gambling within the sport due to its potential to compromise the integrity of the game.
Rose admitted in 2004 to betting on baseball games, including those involving the Cincinnati Reds while he was managing the team. This confession came after years of denials but did not result in any reconsideration of his ban by MLB. The timing of Trump’s announcement, after Rose’s death in September 2023 at age 83, adds another layer of complexity to an already complicated legacy that continues to divide baseball fans, historians, and officials.
The posthumous pardon, while largely symbolic, represents a significant political statement about the intersection of sports, legacy, and redemption. It also continues Trump’s pattern of using presidential pardons to address what he perceives as injustices, particularly those involving high-profile individuals whose situations resonate with his supporters.
Sources:
- Trump Says He Will Pardon Baseball Great Pete Rose | The Epoch Times
- Trump Says He Will Pardon Baseball Great Pete Rose | The Epoch Times
