Pete Rose is Banned From Baseball After Gambling Allegations
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Amid reports that he had bet on baseball, Rose was questioned in February 1989 by outgoing commissioner Peter Ueberroth and his replacement, Bart Giamatti. Rose denied the allegations. Three days later, lawyer John Dowd was retained to investigate these charges against Rose. A Sports Illustrated cover story published on March 21, 1989 gave the public their first detailed report of the allegations that Rose had placed bets on baseball games.
Dowd interviewed many of Rose's associates, including alleged bookies and bet runners. He delivered a summary of his findings to the Commissioner in May, a document which became known as the Dowd Report. In it, Dowd documented Rose's gambling activities in 1985 and 1986 and compiled a day-by-day account of Rose's betting on baseball games in 1987. The Dowd report documented his bets on 52 Reds games in 1987, where Rose wagered a minimum of $10,000 a day.
According to the Dowd report itself, "no evidence was discovered that Rose bet against the Reds."[1]. This is in contrast to the case of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and his teammates in the Black Sox Scandal, who were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series.
Rose continued to deny all of the accusations against him and refused to appear at a hearing with Giamatti on the matter. He filed a lawsuit alleging that the Commissioner had prejudged the case and could not provide a fair hearing. A Cincinnati judge issued a temporary restraining order, but Giamatti fought to have the case moved to Federal Court. The Commissioner prevailed in that effort, after which he and Rose entered settlement negotiations.
On August 24, 1989, Rose voluntarily accepted a permanent place on baseball’s ineligible list. Rose accepted that there was a factual reason for the ban; in return, Major League Baseball agreed to make no formal finding with regard to the gambling allegations. According to baseball's rules, Rose could reapply for reinstatement. Rose, with a 412-373 record, was replaced as Reds manager by Tommy Helms.
Rose's ban has prevented the Reds from formally retiring his #14 jersey. However, aside from his son Pete Jr.'s brief stint with the team in 1997, the Reds have not issued that number since Rose's ban. Even though the number has not been retired, it is highly unlikely that any Red will ever wear that number again. His uniform number 14 was retired by the Cincinnati Cyclones of the East Coast Hockey League.
