The agreement, signed by Mr. Rose and Mr. Giamatti, does not specify that the Cincinnati Reds’ manager was suspended for betting on baseball games and does not say that he bet on games. It says, in fact, that “nothing in this agreement shall be deemed either an admission or a denial” by Mr. Rose of the charges that he bet on games.

The lying gambler and convicted tax evader’s MLB reinstatement is perfect for a Trumpian era. Our polymath president should concentrate on his fields of intellectual mastery — geopolitics, macroeconomics, renaming mountains and gulfs — and spare a smidgen of American life from his perfectionist interventions. Including baseball.

Rob Manfred clearly capitulated to Trump, and likely opened floodgates of revenue to Rose‘s heirs, who will petition the Hall of Fame for his candidacy. In return, Trump might get some votes in Ohio.

“The matter of Mr. Rose,” as Giamatti called the gambling-on-baseball affair, might have been about assembled facts and reasoned adjudication. But the force of personality, featuring towering representatives from two great and wildly dissimilar American camps — the establishment and the renegades — has always hung over this contretemps.

Does Pete Rose belong in the Hall of Fame? Doesn’t matter if you answered “no” ever since he was banned from baseball for gambling on the game in 1989 and can’t forgive the Hit King for being a degenerate gambler until his dying day last September.

Rose, a.k.a. Charlie Hustle (the nickname was an insult he happily embraced), was a competitive monster over his long career (1963–1986), mostly with the Cincinnati Reds, overcoming an unimpressive athletic toolkit through sheer force of will. "I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball" was his mantra.

Just 24 hours after Pete Rose was removed from MLB's ineligible list, the Cincinnati Reds celebrated his career. The franchise held "Pete Rose Night" at Great American Ball Park for Wednesday's game against the Chicago White Sox.

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