After several requests were turned down by former MLB commissioners, baseball’s newest commissioner Rob Manfred said he will consider a request from Pete Rose asking to be reinstated into the league.
ESPN noted that Manfred revealed during a meeting with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday that he did get an application from Rose requesting reinstatement and will consider it "on its merits."
The commissioner said that he will speak to and hear what the all-time hits leader has to say.
"I want to make sure I understand all of the details of the Dowd Report and Commissioner [Bart] Giamatti's decision and the agreement that was ultimately reached," Manfred said. "I want to hear what Pete has to say, and I'll make a decision once I've done that."
Rose was of course banned from baseball for betting on the sport in 1989 and whether or not he should ever be reinstated is still a hot debate today.
One thing many fans do not realize is that he still could be voted into the Hall of Fame even if he is never reinstated. On the Dan Patrick Show last week, Manfred said that Rose could actually be elected in one day without being reinstated first, because MLB does not operate the Hall and vice-versa.
Opinions on if Rose should ever be allowed into the Hall are also highly-debated, but something no one can deny is that he was one of the greatest to ever play the game. Charlie Hustle is a three-time World Series champion, 17-time All Star and still holds a record that will be extremely tough to break with 4,256 career hits.
image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com
For more exclusive sports stories follow us on Facebook and Twitter @Sports_TCC