If baseball’s ongoing sign-stealing saga has made anything clear, it’s that it’s time to let Pete Rose, flaws and all, back into the game.
While Astros players got off scot-free for their involvement in illegal sign-stealing during their 2017 title season, and while known steroid users remain eligible for election to the Hall of Fame, Rose remains on the outside looking in.
Rose was banished from baseball on Aug. 23, 1989, as punishment for betting on the Reds when he was managing Cincinnati. The all-time hits king has been ineligible for Cooperstown due to a 1991 rule aimed at him that stated any player declared ineligible by the league could not appear on the Hall ballot.