After the death of the Reds legend, the Hall of Fame debate flares up again

According to TMZ, MLB’s all-time hits leader Pete Rose passed away on Monday at the age of 83.

The Cincinnati Reds legend was a 17-time All-Star and three-time World Series winner as a player. Anyone else with his resume would have been inducted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. However, Rose was excluded from inclusion because of his reliance on baseball as both a player and a manager.

This is Pete Rose’s dichotomy. On the one hand, the MLB world is mourning the loss of an absolute star. On the other hand, MLB continues to mourn what Rose’s legacy could have been had he not committed one of the sport’s cardinal sins.

Amid the tributes pouring in on social media, debate over Rose’s absence from the Baseball Hall of Fame reignited.

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Rose was placed on the permanently ineligible baseball list in 1989, when he was still manager of the Reds. The league found that he had bet on dozens of games during his career as a player and manager. In 2004, he admitted to betting on baseball, including Reds games, although he claimed he only ever bet on his team winning.

Over the decades, fans and media have taken sides over whether Rose should be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Every commissioner since Bart Giamatti has upheld Rose’s ban, despite calls to put him on the ballot.

Now that Rose has passed away, there are many who believe the “lifetime” ban should end.

The growing support for Rose’s posthumous induction is significant. The question is whether Rob Manfred will move away from the longstanding policy of exclusion.

Personally, I think Rose’s baseball ban was completely justified. There was never any doubt that betting on the game was off limits. Rose chose to break this cardinal rule and paid for it with the rest of his life. It doesn’t matter that the MLB now has partnerships with sports betting companies. As a player or manager, you are still not permitted to bet on baseball. That hasn’t changed.

Still, Rose is a part of baseball history. Bringing him to Cooperstown now wouldn’t let him get off easy. He did his time. His legend is about more than just the mistakes.