Tony Kornheiser Explains Why He Still Doesn’t Think Pete Rose Reaches Hall of Fame

Pete Rose is now eligible to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll get the votes.

Reds great Pete Rose holds a star bearing his name. / Sam Greene / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

MLB announced on Tuesday that Pete Rose was officially reinstated from the league’s ineligible list. The move is the first step of many on Rose’s road to possibly posthumously being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The news comes after Roses’s death in September 2024. Rose had initially been placed on the ineligible list after accepting an agreement with then-commissioner Bart Giamatti while the league was investigating Rose for allegedly gambling on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. Rose would later admit that the accusations were true.

While Rose is once again eligible to reach the Hall of Fame, whether or not he makes it into the halls of Cooperstown remains to be seen. ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser thinks it’s a long shot.

"Rob Manfred does not put you in the Hall of Fame. The baseball writers who are members put you in the Hall of Fame,” Kornheiser said on Tuesday’s episode of Pardon the Interruption. “Those baseball writers, as we know well, are guardians of the game. They take violations very seriously.“

Kornheiser went on to note that several other superstars who were eligible for the Hall of Fame, such as Barry Bonds, had not made the cut despite their cases by the numbers being undeniable.

"Rob Manfred does not put you in the Hall of Fame. The baseball writers put you in the Hall of Fame ... (they) are guardians of the game. They take violations very seriously."

Tony Kornheiser doesn't expect Pete Rose to make the HOF, even after MLB made him eligible today: pic.twitter.com/XkwNokfzNV

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 13, 2025

Rose’s numbers and sporting legacy are among the best in the history of baseball. When he retired in 1986, he was the MLB's all-time leader in hits (4,256), singles (3,215), games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053) and plate appearances (15,890).

Rose’s previous ineligibility for the Hall of Fame made the question of whether or not voters would look past his transgressions moot. Now, Rose is allowed into the Hall, but whether he makes it is another conversation entirely. Kornheiser doesn’t think so.

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