This is repost from June of 2015…in light of recent developments …
This Is the question that is now being put before new commissioner Rob Manfred. Bud Selig wanted no part of it and neither did the other commissioners before Selig since the moment Bart Giamatti got Rose to sign an agreement that permanently banned him for life. Manfred is open to having Rose back in baseball under certain conditions. What those are is not clear, but there are many who want Pete Rose back in Bsaeball, mostly the fans. And of course Pete Rose himself. I have always stated I feel Rose should be reinstated and be allowed in the hall of Fame. but none of this would even be an issue if Pete Rose didn’t do one thing …Bet on Baseball.
Not only did Rose gamble on baseball, he gambled on the team he managed. Then to compound the damage he spent 15 years lying about it. There are players who have done worse than Rose and were forgiven and let back in Baseball’s good graces. The years haven’t been good to Rose because he hasn’t been good to the years either. He insisted for years he didn’t bet on Baseball and then after many of his friends in Baseball’s urging him to come clean only then did he admit that he did bet on Baseball and lied about it. Rose underestimated that the fans and the media would have forgiving Rose by now if when it first happened he came clean then apologized done some sort of ban and would have been back in the game. It sounds like I am making a case for Rose not to be reinstated, but I am not. I and every Met fan hated Rose the player when he bullied Bud Harrelson in the 1973 playoffs Mets vs Reds which trigged a brawl between the two teams, which to this day Met fans still talk about. But that aside Rose is an all time great and how does Baseball’s all time hit king( 4,256) not be in the Hall of Fame? Baseball’s all time singles hitter (3,215 )not be in the Hall of Fame?
From the beginning of his banishment I have always maintained the compromise of Rose be allowed induction into the Hall of fame have his day in the sun, but not be allow to manage or run a ball club where he can influence the out come of a game. At this point it may not matter, since many of the owners and general managers bring their own people in anyway and most go for numbers crunchers, which Rose isn’t.
Let Rose sign autographs do shows, manage no, but be back in baseball sure it will be fun. Baseball has had racist in the Hall of fame, drug addicts, alcoholics, and the like in their hallow Hall of Fame. And they have survived it. Baseball can survive Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame and back in Baseball.
smallthoughtsinasportsworld 
No. He did the one thing they tell you from Day One is the “unforgivable sin.” I wouldn’t even consider this until after he’s dead and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson is reinstated. “Lifetime Ban” means exactly that…Rose’s punishment is that he NEVER gets to stand on the stage at Cooperstown and give his induction speech.
what about his stats ? should they stand as they are without him in the Hall?? Or if the Commissioner decides not to reinstate Rose should his stats be vacated?
Vacating stats is dumb. that’s the kind of crap the NCAA does. Why do we have this need to keep wanting to alter his punishment? He did what he did, and he got punished for it. Case Closed. His numbers can stand; they are a measure of what he actually did on the field.
What everybody forgets in this discussion is that the Hall of Fame is a private museum which is not owned by Major League Baseball. That means they can let in whomever they want, and they get to decide how people get in. They could let Rose in tomorrow if they wanted to, but they don’t.
You have to remember that when the Hall was founded in the 1930s’, there were a whole lot of people who still remembered the “Black Sox” scandal, which is EXACTLY why the Hall has the rule about anybody being on MLB’s “Permanently Ineligible” list will not be inducted. Like I said, since the “Black Sox,” gambling has been baseball’s unforgivable sin. MLB hasn’t forgiven it, not to mention, even if they did, the Hall could always change it’s rules and find another way to keep Rose out.