Pete Rose, the MLB's all-time hits leader, was present during the 2015 All-Star Game in Cincinnati back in July. The main storyline during the event focused on whether the 74-year-old would be reinstated by Commissioner Rob Manfred after being banned from baseball for life in 1989.
Rose applied for reinstatement under commissioners Fay Vincent and Bud Selig, both of whom did not act on his request. However, Manfred is open to change, as seen less than a year into his stint as commissioner. He's been tasked with various issues such as speeding up the game, fan safety, improving youth baseball across the country, expanding the MLB's fan base and more.
And he's also open to allowing Rose to come back to baseball despite his lifetime ban for gambling while he was a player and manager (it was discovered he gambled as a player earlier this season). Rose applied for reinstatement back in March.
"We are in the process of finalizing our review of the files," Manfred told WTEM radio of Washington D.C. on Wednesday. "We had a conversation today about scheduling a meeting with Mr. Rose. After that meeting I will give Mr. Rose a decision that will happen before the end of this year."
Rose's lifetime ban makes him ineligible to be elected into baseball's Hall of Fame. The former longtime Cincinnati Red played 24 MLB seasons with the Reds (19 years), Philadelphia Phillies (5) and Montreal Expos (1) and holds the league's all-time records for games played (3,562), plate appearances (15,890), at-bats (14,053) and hits (4,256).
Manfred's comments opened up further discussion regarding the potential reinstatement, but nobody from Rose's camp had anything to say.
"Rose's lawyer Raymond Genco said Rose had no comment on Manfred's statements," writes C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer. "Genco also would not comment on whether the commissioner's office has reached out to him to set a meeting or whether a meeting date has been set."
Stayed tuned for updates at some point in September.
