Today, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred reinstated 18 players formerly banished from baseball, most notably Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson. This means that they are no longer on MLB's permanently ineligible list and can now be considered for election to the Hall of Fame. Manfred claimed that the punishment of being banned serves its purpose once the banished individual passes away.
As anyone who knows me might guess, I have a few words to say on this topic.
As I've stated before, I am opposed to Rose's induction, my reasons being that he admitted to breaking the one rule you don't break - betting on games that you're involved in. Although he claimed only to bet on his team to win (which I believe), that's still enough to get him banned. He broke the one rule, and he knew it. On the other hand, Shoeless Joe was actually found not guilty on trial, and there is reason to believe that he had nothing to do with throwing the World Series (unless you think batting .375 with no fielding errors and the only home run of the Series is throwing). The story goes that he took money from gamblers, but he didn't attend meetings from the gamblers and tried to return the money to manager Charlie Comiskey. That may sound hard to believe, but given other stories about Jackson, that might be the most believable.
While reinstating Pete Rose was a mistake, in my opinion, what's a worse mistake is Manfred's lifting of all bans on a player's death. For one thing, it's a slap in the face - if Rose were ever inducted into the Hall of Fame, it's almost an insult to reinstate him ten months after his passing. At the same time, it just shows how spineless MLB can be when disciplining players. The threat of a permanent ban no longer exists, and while a banished great may discontentedly live out his days without an induction ceremony, he could satisfy himself with the thought that he'll just be inducted later. The Hall of Fame is about honor, and if a player is so dishonorable as not to be honored while living, then he should not be honored at all.
