CINCINNATI — (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds are paying tribute to Pete Rose on Wednesday night, a day after baseball's career hits leader was posthumously removed from the major leagues' permanent ineligibility list.
The Reds are handing out a replica No. 14 Rose jersey to fans in attendance for their game against the Chicago White Sox. They are holding a pregame panel with former Rose teammates George Foster and Ken Griffey Sr., along with Barry Larkin and Eric Davis — who played for Rose when he managed the Reds.
Members of Rose's family are slated to deliver the game ball and serve as honorary captains.
Rose, who died in September at age 83, played for the Reds in 19 of his 24 seasons, winning two of his three World Series championships with his hometown team. His career was tarnished by a gambling scandal that led to a permanent ban on Aug. 23, 1989.
An investigation commissioned by Major League Baseball concluded Rose — a 17-time All-Star who finished with 4,256 hits — repeatedly bet on the Reds as a player and manager of the team from 1985-87, a violation of a long-standing MLB rule.
Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday he was changing the league’s policy on permanent ineligibility, saying bans would expire at death.
While Rose's gambling ban made him a baseball pariah, that was never the case in a city that proudly embraces its status as the home of the oldest major league team. He was almost uniformly beloved in his native Cincinnati for his all-out playing style and his connection to the Big Red Machine — the dominant Reds teams in the mid-1970s.
A handful of fans stopped in front of Rose's statue for pictures hours before the first pitch at Great American Ball Park on Wednesday. There was a black tarp with the No. 14 over the pitcher's mound as the grounds crew worked on the field.
The change in Rose's status makes him eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame — long a sore spot for Rose's most ardent supporters — but his Cooperstown induction is far from a given.
Rose's case would be considered by the Hall’s Classic Baseball Era committee, which next meets to consider players in December 2027. A 10-person panel selects eight ballot candidates with the approval of the Hall’s board, and the group is considered by 16 members at the winter meetings, with a 75% or higher vote needed.
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