In a landmark decision that reshapes the landscape of Major League Baseball history, Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday the removal of Pete Rose, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, and 16 other deceased individuals from MLB’s permanently ineligible list, ending decades of controversy surrounding two of the game’s most legendary and polarizing figures.
For Rose, baseball’s all-time hit king, and Jackson, the mythical talent of the early 20th century tainted by the infamous 1919 “Black Sox Scandal,” the decision marks the end of a purgatory that has defined their legacies as much as their on-field greatness. Their reinstatement opens the door for long-awaited Hall of Fame consideration—though the earliest they could be enshrined is summer 2028.
Rose, a 17-time All-Star with 4,256 career hits, accepted his permanent ban from then-Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in August 1989, after an investigation found he bet on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. Though he always denied betting against his own team, Rose’s punishment—once thought to last just a few years—became a lifetime sentence and ultimately kept him off the Hall of Fame ballot altogether.
Jackson, a career .356 hitter widely regarded as one of the purest talents the game has ever seen, was banned along with seven other Chicago White Sox players by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in 1921. The group, forever branded as the “Black Sox,” allegedly conspired to throw the 1919 World Series. Jackson’s defenders have long argued his innocence, citing his stellar performance in that Series and questionable evidence used in the case against him.
With Tuesday’s announcement, Manfred officially reversed course, removing their names—and the stain—from baseball’s no-return list. The move also clears the way for their inclusion on the Hall of Fame ballot under the jurisdiction of the Classic Baseball Era Committee, which next convenes in December 2027.
“Today’s decision recognizes the contributions these players made on the field,” Manfred said in a written statement. “While their actions off the field were serious, the time has come to reconsider their place in the game’s history.”
Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the board of the Hall of Fame, confirmed that the Hall’s Historical Overview Committee will now include Rose and Jackson among the candidates eligible to be considered by the 16-member Classic Baseball Era Committee. Each candidate will require 12 votes to gain induction.
The process begins with the Overview Committee crafting a ballot of eight names, to be voted on in December 2027, with induction possible in the summer of 2028. Rose’s family, including his eldest daughter Fawn, and longtime advocate Peter Lenkov, have already stated their intention to push for immediate inclusion.
For Jackson, who died in 1951, the ruling is a posthumous vindication after more than a century of exclusion from the sport he helped shape. His role in the “Black Sox” scandal has long been debated in books, documentaries, and films like the 1988 classic Eight Men Out. Though voters considered Jackson several times over the decades, his ban made official enshrinement impossible—until now.
Pete Rose, who died this past September at age 83, never even appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot. In 1991, in a move unofficially dubbed “the Pete Rose Rule,” the Hall’s board decided that anyone on MLB’s permanently ineligible list would also be ineligible for induction. That rule is no longer a barrier.
Manfred’s decision impacts more than just Rose and Jackson. In total, 16 deceased players and one deceased owner were removed from the permanently ineligible list. Among them were Jackson’s former White Sox teammates, including ace Eddie Cicotte and third baseman Buck Weaver, whose careers—and lives—were forever altered by the scandal.
The implications of this sweeping change are vast, both symbolically and procedurally. It is a rare moment of reconciliation in a sport that often clings tightly to its moral codes and unwritten rules.
For baseball, it is a historic reckoning. For fans and historians, it is long-overdue justice.
For Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, it may finally be the path to Cooperstown.
