"On a damp, blustery evening near Pete Rose Way — with a BetMGM billboard looming beyond right field — players, coaches, and fans embraced MLB’s new policy lifting posthumous bans on disgraced players."
CINCINNATI — Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in the Hall of Fame?
You can bet on it.
With legalized sports betting just steps away from Great American Ball Park, Reds fan Nancy Ayers called the move fair — especially after learning that Major League Baseball’s all-time hit leader had been posthumously reinstated, ending his decades-long lifetime ban for betting on games he managed.
“It shouldn’t be lost on anybody that you can walk right over there and bet all you want,” Ayers said, gesturing toward the BetMGM sportsbook across the street. “It’s crazy.”
On a wet, blustery evening near Pete Rose Way — with a BetMGM billboard glowing beyond right field — players, coaches, and fans welcomed MLB’s new policy, which removes bans on disgraced players after their deaths.
The timing, likely not accidental, came just one day before “Pete Rose Night” at the ballpark — with the Reds hosting the White Sox, their infamous 1919 World Series opponents. That scandal, which tarnished the Chicago team as the "Black Sox," has cast a shadow for over a century.
For many, the policy change felt overdue.
“Rose might have been an a------ outside the chalk, but he was the best to ever do it,” said Ayers’ husband, Jeff, who owns three original seats from Riverfront Stadium, where Rose once starred. “Now let’s get ‘Shoeless Joe’ in the Hall of Fame, too.”
“Free ‘Shoeless Joe’!” one out-of-towner shouted from the concourse, clad in a Paul Konerko jersey.
The cheers rang out across Great American Ball Park after a midgame videoboard announcement revealed Pete Rose’s posthumous reinstatement. It was a half-filled stadium on a soggy Tuesday night, with fans enduring a 1-hour, 45-minute rain delay before first pitch.
Earlier in the evening, a mix of surprised laughs and murmurs spread through the White Sox clubhouse as news of MLB’s new policy played on clubhouse televisions. The team was just hours from opening a series against the Reds — their infamous 1919 World Series foes.
Luis Robert Jr., Josh Rojas, Lenyn Sosa, and Brooks Baldwin paused their card game to glance at the headline, then returned to the table. Most of the young clubhouse, made up of Gen Z players, supported Rose’s reinstatement, even if few could recall the details of the scandal that exiled "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and seven other White Sox players — Eddie Cicotte, Happy Felsch, Chick Gandil, Fred McMullin, Swede Risberg, Buck Weaver, and Lefty Williams — for over a century.
Assistant GM Josh Barfield admitted he only knew of the scandal through Field of Dreams but called himself a lifelong Pete Rose fan.
“They paid their penalty,” Barfield said. “I think it would have been pretty cool if [Rose] could have been alive to see it.”
Right-hander Bryse Wilson agreed, saying Rose’s case was different: “He was betting on himself to succeed.”
“Obviously, he wasn’t supposed to do it,” Wilson said. “But I think it’s awesome he’s back in. Put him in the Hall of Fame now.”
He nodded toward the nearby sportsbook advertisement looming in the ballpark.
“It’s in our faces all the time,” Wilson said. “But at the end of the day — just don’t do it.”
White Sox manager Will Venable reflected on Rose’s complicated legacy. His father, Max Venable, played alongside Rose in Cincinnati during the 1980s.
“My dad had great things to say about him,” Venable said. “He was just a guy who went out there and played extremely hard every day. He broke the rules and had to deal with the consequences, but I’m glad to see he’s been reinstated.”
In an official statement, the Reds thanked MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, praised Rose, and reaffirmed: “Reds Country will continue to celebrate him as we always have.”
The White Sox were more measured, saying only: “The White Sox trust the process currently in place will thoughtfully evaluate each player’s contributions to the game.”
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