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There are a lot of reasons to not reinstate Pete Rose, and I have articulated several of them here over the years. But one that occurred to me just recently is: if it turns out Baseball refused to reinstate him while he was alive but did so only now that he’s dead, they’re basically admitting that they were interested only in punishing the man rather than punishing the infraction. That’s something small, petty, vindictive organizations do, and it was be a very, very bad look for Major League Baseball to do this.
When MLB punishes a player for any infraction, even this one, they have to separate the man from the infraction. The punishment must be equal for everyone, and should never turn on the personality of the convicted, and that goes double when there is only one prescribed punishment for it. It’s the infraction itself they have to remain focused on, irrespective of who committed it. That’s what principled organizations do, and this is yet one more reason why there is nothing in it for Baseball to reinstate Pete Rose.
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