Manfred won't lift life ban on Rose: report

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred will not lift the life-time ban imposed on all-time hits leader Pete Rose in 1989 for betting on games, the New York Times reported on Monday.

The decision means the former Cincinnati Reds star will remain outside the Baseball Hall of Fame despite his legendary status.

Manfred, who replaced Bud Selig as commissioner last January, has not announced a decision, but the Times reported that three unnamed sources familiar with the decision said Manfred has decided not to end the banishment.

Rose, 74, met with Manfred in late September at the major league offices in New York in the hope of having his ban reconsidered and was told he would have a decision by the end of the year.

The Times reported Manfred was intending to tell Rose on Thursday but did so on Monday after an inquiry by the newspaper.

A major league investigation concluded that Rose gambled on baseball games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. After years of denials, Rose admitted betting on games in 2004 but insisted he never bet on his own team to lose.

Rose, a 17-time All-Star, had a record 4,256 base hits and three World Series titles over his career.

The life ban has kept him off Hall of Fame ballots, but Rose has tried for reinstatement before, in 1992 before then-commissioner Fay Vincent and in 1997 before Selig.

The Times report said Manfred was not persuaded in September that Rose was telling the entire truth about the extent of his gambling as a manager and player.