Last Saturday, President Trump 鈥� a day after in the Oval Office 鈥� turned his mind to other pressing matters.
Like establishing and a late-night post on his Truth Social site on a Cincinnati baseball icon, the late Peter Edward Rose.
Trump said in his post that he plans to issue a presidential pardon to Rose, who was convicted of federal tax evasion 35 years ago and who was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on the game as a player and a manager.
If you read the president's post, it鈥檚 not exactly clear what he wants to pardon Rose for; and Trump has some of his facts about Rose and baseball wrong.
So I decided to parse this Truth Social post, for the sake of clarity.
What Trump said:
鈥淢ajor League Baseball didn鈥檛 have the courage or decency to put the late, great Pete Rose, known as 鈥楥harlie Hustle,鈥� into the Baseball Hall of Fame.鈥�
What Trump got wrong:
Clearly he doesn鈥檛 know 鈥� or chooses to ignore 鈥� the relationship of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. and the business entity known as Major League Baseball, or MLB.
There is no relationship. Not formally anyway.
MLB has zip, zero, nothing to do with who is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The National Baseball Hall of Fame is run by a private foundation, with a president and a board of directors made up mostly of former MLB players and executives.
The selection of inductees is conducted among members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) who cast ballots from a list of players who have been retired five or more years. Veteran committees and era committees choose players from the more distant past for induction.
MLB has nothing to do with the process.
What Trump said:
鈥淣ow he is dead, will never experience the thrill of being selected even though he was a FAR BETTER PLAYER than most of those who made it and can only be named posthumously.鈥�
What Trump got wrong:
About the only thing he got right here is that, yes, Pete Rose is dead.
He died last year on Sept. 30 of natural causes at the age of 83.
Was he a "far better player" than most others who are in the Hall of Fame?
Well, I knew Pete from my days at the Enquirer. Rose had more than his share of faults and character flaws, but he did respect the history of the game and would never, ever say he was a far better player than people he played with and against 鈥� people like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, his friend Joe Morgan, and Johnny Bench.
What Rose 鈥� who grew up in Sedamsville on the Ohio River 鈥� would say is probably something like this: that he was not a natural athlete, but he became a great ballplayer because he worked harder at it than anyone else.
Hustle and determination is what set Pete Rose apart.
The betting on baseball brought him down; and forced Bart Giamatti, then the commissioner of baseball, to issue the lifetime ban in 1989.
The punishment was not out of line; it was just and fair. I was told once by a baseball writer who was very close to Pete that if he admitted betting on baseball after the investigation in 1989, he would have been handed a one-year suspension and then went back to work in the game he loved.
He didn鈥檛. Instead, he lied about it for 25 years before admitting what he did.
One thing that can鈥檛 be taken away from him is his record of 4,256 career base hits, a record that will likely never be broken.
A rookie hitter starting out today could tally up 200 hits for 21 seasons and still come up more than a hundred hits behind Rose.
What Trump said:
鈥淏aseball, 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!"
What Trump got wrong:
鈥淒ying all over the place鈥�?
MLB is just coming off , with attendance and TV money rising steadily; and the MLB brand well on its way to becoming an international sensation, is somehow 鈥渄ying.鈥�
More than 71.3 million fans went to 30 MLB ball parks in 2024, .
Rule changes in the game 鈥� like the pitch clock, which has cut about 20 minutes off the playing time of the average major league game 鈥� have clearly made the game more appealing to younger fans.
There was a last year 鈥� a fact that is not lost on potential advertisers. And, since 2019, MLB teams report that the median age of ticket purchasers has dropped from 51 to 44.
Baseball is doing just fine, thank you.
What Trump said:
鈥淎nyway, over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn鈥檛 have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING.鈥�
What Trump didn鈥檛 say:
Not sure exactly what the president is saying here.
What offense does he want to issue a complete pardon for? Being banned from baseball for life?
If that鈥檚 the case, it is meaningless.
Presidential pardon powers apply only to real or potential crimes against the federal government.
In 1990, Rose was convicted of two counts of filing false tax returns. The federal court judge, the late S. Arthur Spiegel, sentenced him to five months in prison, which Rose served in a minimum-security institution in Marion, Ill.
Rose served his time 35 years ago. It鈥檚 not at all clear what impact a presidential pardon now would have.
President Trump certainly can not pardon Rose of being banned from baseball, no matter how much he demands it in late night Truth Social posts.
In fact, Rob Manfred, the commissioner of baseball, has been considering a request from Rose鈥檚 family to lift the lifetime ban. The family filed for it in early January of this year.
If Manfred were to lift the ban it would give the Hall of Fame the green light to let Rose in. Or not let him in. Up to the hall鈥檚 board.
Manfred could lift the ban 鈥� maybe by May 14, the day the Reds will honor Rose at a Reds-White Sox game at Great American Ball Park.
If Manfred does, you can be certain of one thing:
Donald Trump will be on Truth Social in seconds, taking full credit.
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