Rob Manfred: Legalized sports gambling doesn’t vindicate Pete Rose
Major League Baseball has deep ties with the sports betting industry these days.
But that’s not changing Pete Rose’s lifetime ban from the sport, according to Commissioner Rob Manfred.
“I think for us, we’ve always approached the issue of gambling from the proposition that players and other people who are in position to influence the outcome of the game are going to be subject to a different set of rules than everyone else,” Manfred said before Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
“Pete Rose violated what is Rule 1 of baseball and the consequences of that are clear in the rules.’’
MLB has embraced sports betting after a 2018 Supreme Court decision ended a prohibition on it.
The league has co-exclusive partnerships with FanDuel and BetMGM.
Rose, MLB’s all-time hit king, was banned from baseball in 1989 after he was caught betting on games he managed.
Rose denied the allegations for years until admitting he bet on games he managed, though he said he never bet against his team in a 2004 autobiography.
He has twice applied for reinstatement with the league — once in 1997 and again in 2015 — with no success.
Manfred denied the latter application, calling it an “unacceptable risk” to allow Rose back into baseball.
“Mr. Rose’s public and private comments, including his initial admission in 2004, provide me with little confidence that he has a mature understanding of his wrongful conduct, that he has accepted full responsibility for it, or that he understands the damage he has caused,” Manfred wrote at the time.
Manfred’s recent comments come as other leagues, including the NFL and college baseball, have dealt with gambling scandals of their own.
In May, Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon was fired after an investigation found that he was directly communicating with the person who placed bets on a Crimson Tide game against LSU.
Several NFL players have been suspended for sports betting-related offenses this offseason, including Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers and tight end Rashod Berry, who were suspended indefinitely.
Rose amassed an MLB record of 4,256 hits during his 24-year career, winning three World Series titles and making 17 All-Star teams.
