Pete Rose was reinstated off MLB's ineligible list and is now allowed candidacy into the Hall of Fame as early as December 2027. Pete Rose was a legend of the game as he became MLB's hit king before his passing this past September. He also played alongside Philadelphia Phillies legends like Mike Schmidt to bring home the Phillies first World Series title in 1980.
Schmidt was a renowned supporter of Rose and his Hall of Fame case, but now the chance of getting Rose into the Hall of Fame seems more convoluted than ever.
Once a staunch advocate, Phillies legend Mike Schmidt isn't so sure about Pete Rose's Hall of Fame chances
According to Jayson Stark of The Athletic, Schmidt heavily campaigned (subscription required) for his former teammate to be eligible for the Hall of Fame, even making a statement at his own Hall of Fame induction speech in 1995. Schmidt announced how Rose was his grandmother's favorite player and that he looked forward to the day Rose could be in the same spot giving the same speech.
“I join her, and millions of baseball fans, in hoping someday soon — someday very soon — Pete Rose will be standing right here,” Schmidt said.
Now 30 years later, the ban has been finally lifted, but revisiting Rose's candidacy isn't as cut and dry, with time only adding confusion to where Rose fits into the modern era of the game. Schmidt knows that it's a different time now, but his change in tone is still shocking to hear given how much he backed Rose all those years ago.
“I think the Pete Rose question is always going to be divided, 50-50,” Schmidt said, per Stark. “Even in terms of the Hall of Fame, I think if you posed the question to all of the living Hall of Famers right now, I think it would almost be 50-50. That’s my guess.”
The Hall's Classic Baseball Era Committee will be the ones to vote on Rose's case, different than the traditional ballot so many baseball fans are accustomed to. That could be a reason why Schmidt's tone has changed so much on the situation. It also doesn't help that Rose has continually caught negative attention throughout his time in retirement (subscription required), per Alex Kirshner and Sam Settleman of The Athletic. Baseball has changed drastically since Rose was banned in 1989 for betting on the game and, like Schmidt, the conflict of the steroids era on top of the character clause of Hall of Fame worthiness, will make the decision a continual deliberation until a decision is inevitably made.
“I think I’d draw an analogy to the whole steroid issue," Schmidt said. “I think it’s very similar. Because I think the Hall of Fame members are divided down the middle on that issue, too. … And that’s just another question that most members really don’t want to get involved with. They don’t want to incriminate anybody. They don’t want to mention names.
One thing is for certain, and it's that Rose and the 16 other players who were reinstated will be given another chance to be enshrined into baseball immortality. It's an honor to be granted access and as Schmidt has grown to expect, a vote isn't a certainty, no matter how much you want it.