Trump Announces Plan to Pardon Baseball Legend Pete Rose
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| President Trump to sign a “complete pardon of MLB legend Pete Rose,” says he should have been put in the Hall of Fame. |
(Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he would issue a full pardon for baseball icon Pete Rose, criticizing Major League Baseball’s decision to bar the all-time hits leader from the Hall of Fame due to gambling.
Rose, who passed away last year at the age of 83, was permanently banned from the sport after admitting in 2004 that he had bet on games—though he insisted he never wagered 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 wrote on Truth Social.
"He never bet 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 did not specify what the pardon would entail, as Rose was never convicted of a crime.
In 2017, the Philadelphia Phillies canceled an event honoring Rose following allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a girl in the 1970s before she turned 16. Rose maintained that she was 16, the legal age of consent at the time, according to ESPN.
Rose, who played the majority of his career with the Cincinnati Reds from 1963 to 1986, was a three-time World Series champion and holds Major League Baseball records for hits, games played, at-bats, singles, and outs.