Another sports league takes a swing at appeasing Trump
Donald Trump will likely claim another pointless victory months after he called out Major League Baseball.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said on Tuesday that he will remove controversial late baseball star Pete Rose, among others, from the league’s list of players who are ineligible for the Hall of Fame.
Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 after he was found to be betting on games, including on some for the very team he was managing, the Cincinnati Reds. A year after his ban, he was also charged with tax evasion and served five months in prison.
Despite Rose’s checkered past, Trump clearly has a soft spot for the former slugger. The fellow convicted felon announced in February that he planned to posthumously pardon Rose for all of his misdeeds.
“Over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING,” Trump wrote via Truth Social.
“He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history. Baseball, which is dying all over the place, should get off its fat, lazy ass, and elect Pete Rose, even though far too late, into the Baseball Hall of Fame!”
Rose died in September 2024 at the age of 83.
In a letter published to the MLB website Tuesday, the commissioner said his decision to remove Rose from the ineligible list involved reevaluating whether a person should remain banned after death.
“Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred wrote.
Manfred met with Trump last month to chat one-on-one about “issues pertaining to baseball,” including Rose’s status. But beyond that, the commissioner has plenty of reasons to appease Trump. Manfred has expressed concerns over how Trump’s ruthless deportation plans might impact the MLB’s Cuban, Venezuelan, and Dominican players.
The apparent shift after meeting with Trump reflects a trend of the president putting pressure on sports leagues to get his way.
Last month, the president threw a fit when football prospect Shedeur Sanders—son of NFL great Deion Sanders—wasn’t drafted in an early round. Later, the White House bizarrely took credit after the quarterback was eventually selected.
The NFL, which has been inconsistent with its support for social issues, also backed down from its longtime racial justice messaging ahead of Trump’s visit to the Super Bowl in February.
Related | NFL makes a weird play before Trump attends the Super Bowl
Earlier this month, Trump injected himself into another NFL conversation by hosting officials at the White House to announce that the annual draft would take place in Washington, D.C., in 2027.
When he’s not meddling in pro sports, the president continues to prioritize his obnoxious regular golf outings over more pressing national concerns.
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