Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday he will not lift the life-time ban imposed on all-time hits leader Pete Rose in 1989 for betting on games while managing.

The decision means the former Cincinnati Reds star will remain outside the Baseball Hall of Fame despite his legendary status.

Manfred, who replaced Bud Selig as commissioner last January, met with Rose, 74, in late September at the major league offices in New York.

Rose hoped to have his ban reconsidered and was told he would have a decision by the end of the year.

"It is not at all clear to me that Mr. Rose has a grasp of the scope of his violations," Manfred wrote in a three-page decision.

Manfred noted Rose still bets on horse races and sports, including baseball.
"Mr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life either by an honest acceptance by him of his wrongdoing... or by a rigorous, self-aware and sustained program of avoidance by him of all the circumstances that led to his permanent ineligibility in 1989," Manfred wrote.

"Absent such credible evidence, allowing him to work in the game presents an unacceptable risk of a future violation by him.

"Thus to the integrity of our sport, I therefore must reject Mr. Rose's application for reinstatement."

A major league investigation concluded that Rose gambled on baseball games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. After years of denials, Rose admitted betting on games in 2004 but insisted he never bet on his own team to lose.

Rose, a 17-time All-Star, had a record 4,256 base hits and three World Series titles over his career.

The life ban has kept him off Hall of Fame ballots, but Rose has tried for reinstatement before, in 1992 before then-commissioner Fay Vincent and in 1997 before Selig.

Manfred said he did "respect" Rose's feats on the field and added that Rose would be allowed to take part in ceremonial events as he has twice in recent years, but at the commissioner's discretion.

And Manfred said his decision rendered no ruling on Rose's Hall of Fame fitness.

"It is not part of (the commissioner's) authority or responsibility here to make any determination concerning Mr. Rose's eligibility as a candidate for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame," wrote Manfred.

"Any debate over Mr. Rose's eligibility for the Hall of Fame is one that must take place in a different forum."
Source: AFP