Blue Jays Hall of Famer Speaks About Pete Rose’s Hall of Fame Hopes

This former Toronto Blue Jays boss, also in the Baseball Hall of Fame, has his own spin on Pete Rose’s Hall of Fame chances.

Apr 1, 2011; Toronto, ON, Canada; 2011 Hall of Fame class inductee former general manager Pat Gillick throws the first pitch before the game between the Minnesota Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. | Tom Szczerbowski-Imagn Images

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred made perhaps the most historic decision of his tenure leading the game.

On Tuesday, he essentially reinstated Pete Rose.

Manfred released a ruling that players on the game’s permanently ineligible list would be removed from the list once they die. The ruling also impacted any other players on the list, including Shoeless Joe Jackson.

This means that Rose, who is the game’s all-time leader in hits, can now be considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame, something that was not allowed to happen since he was on the permanently ineligible list.

Rose filed for reinstatement several times before he died last year at 83 years old. But each time he was turned down. What isn’t clear is whether Rose will go on the Baseball Writers Association of America’s ballot — which never happened due to the ban — or if he’ll be reviewed by one of the veteran’s committees.

What is clear is that just about everyone has an opinion on his candidacy.

What Pat Gillick Said About Pete Rose

The Athletic (subscription required) spoke to a dozen Hall of Famers about whether Rose should be inducted or not. Many of them were contemporaries of Rose.

Former Blue Jays general manager Pat Gillick was among those who weighed in.

Gillick was inducted in 2011 as an executive. He was general manager of the Blue Jays from 1978-94 and was the architect of their 1992 and 1993 World Series teams.

Gillick later went on to run the Baltimore Orioles from 1996-98, the Seattle Mariners from 2000-03 and the Philadelphia Phillies from 2006-08. He helped the Phillies win the 2008 World Series title. He later served as the team president of the Phillies in 2014 and 2015.

Now 87 years old, Gillick is retired from the game. Gillick’s and Rose’s careers overlapped, though Gillick never ran a team in the National League. So, his exposure to Rose was limited to the early years of his career. Gillick’s first job was as an assistant farm director with the Houston Colt .45s (now Astros) in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Based on Rose’s play, Gillick said the star’s induction is a “no-brainer.” But, with Rose, nothing is quite that simple, he said.

“I think there’s more to it than the on-the-field thing,” Gillick said. “The character means a lot and I’d have to question that. It’s going to be a tough subject.”

Rose did serve five months in prison after he pled guilty to filing false income tax returns. He also admitted late in life that he did gamble on baseball.

Rose finished his professional career with 4,256 hits, the most of any MLB player. He played 24 years, was a National League MVP, won NL rookie of the year, made the NL All-Star team 17 times, won three World Series rings, two Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger, three NL batting title, the Roberto Clemente award and a World Series MVP.