[Alberta's Child]

Pete Rose might be in the Hall of Fame today if he had simply come clean back in the 1980s when his scandal first came to light. I'm convinced his permanent suspension had less to do with his initial transgressions than with his continuous lying about it -- even to the point where he was denying that he bet on ANY baseball games during his sentencing in federal court for tax evasion in 1990.

I suspect MLB is also punishing him for committing the cardinal sin (in the MLB world) of using the court system to successfully (temporarily) block commissioner Bart Giamatti from even conducting his initial investigation in the gambling scandal.

[Alberta's Child]

Fascinating presentation and discussion with John Dowd from 2014 (more than 70 minutes long):

The Dowd Report -- Pete Rose’s Ban from Baseball: 25 Years Later

[IndyTiger]

Pete deservedly got a lifetime ban from baseball for gambling. But now that his lifetime is over, put him in the HOF. Put a statement on his plaque that he was banned, but he deserves to be in, IMO.

Same for Shoeless Joe Jackson.