Pete Rose deserves to be in Hall of Fame....just not yet

With the recent controversies over the Astros and Red Sox titles, a lot of noise has started again about granting Pete Rose eligibility into the Hall of Fame.

First off, I do believe that Pete Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.......just not yet.

Let me explain.

As I understand it, Pete Rose agreed to a Life Time Ban if Major League Baseball agreed not to issue a determination if he bet on baseball.

That's pretty straightforward. He agreed to it. I think we should honor that agreement. I don't think in his lifetime, he should be able to have the status of a Hall of Famer.

Does he deserve to be in the Hall? Yes he does. So when he passes away, open up the voting and let the voters decide.  When he passes away, have him entered into the voting like any player that is eligible in their first year. In order to be voted in, if he gets 75% of the voters voting for him in his 1st year, he will be voted in. But 2 things have to happen in my opinion for this to happen.

1 - He must pass away. I know that sounds morbid, but he agreed to the Lifetime ban. Once he passes away, he will have the ability to be voted in.

2 - Before the voting opens up for him, the voting needs to be opened up for the members of the 1919 White Sox. Allow them to be voted on much like any player in their first year of eligibility. I agree that the White Sox throwing the World Series is a black mark. Those players have all passed on, they are not going to reap any benefits of being voted in. I still don't think Joe Jackson should be held out of the Hall of Fame voting and don't think he was throwing the Series.

Career stats - Joe Jackson

Avg - .356
At Bats per Home Run  - 92.24
At Bats per Triple  - 29.64
At Bats per Double  - 16.22
At Bats per RBI  - 6.29
At Bats per Run  - 5.71

1919 World Series Stats

Avg - .375
At Bats per Home Run  - 32.00
At Bats per Triple  - 0.00 (he didn't record a triple in the Series)
At Bats per Double  - 10.67
At Bats per RBI  - 5.33
At Bats per Run  - 6.4

His line in the Series

.375 Avg with 5 Runs, 12 Hits, 3 2B's, 1 HR, 0 Errors.

Not seeing that he was throwing the Series.

Keep in mind, he was removed from Baseball after the 1920 season at the age of 33, so he could have had 4-5 more productive years.


Reference

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Banning_of_Pete_Rose