A new policy has opened the door to Cooperstown for 17 people MLB had previously banned for misconduct.
In a sweeping decision, commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday that MLB had reinstated deceased people the league had deemed “permanently ineligible” under Rule 21 of its code of conduct. Going forward, ineligibility will end once a person dies.
Manfred’s announcement came in response to a petition from the attorney for former player and manager Pete Rose, MLB’s all-time leader in hits and games played, a 17-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion.
Rose, who died in September at 83 years old, has famously been absent from the National Baseball Hall of Fame. MLB banned him in 1989 following allegations that he bet on major league games while playing for and managing the Cincinnati Reds, which he admitted to 25 years later. In 1991, the Hall of Fame voted to block all of MLB’s permanently ineligible players from its membership. Manfred’s letter changes that.
In light of MLB’s reinstatement of deceased individuals, Jane Forbes Clark, the Hall of Fame’s chairman of the board, said Rose is now eligible for enshrinement. And he’s not the only one.
The change also applies to 16 other people MLB previously labeled as ineligible. Here’s who they are:
“Shoeless” Joe Jackson
Jackson was one of eight members of the “Black Sox,” a group of Chicago White Sox players accused of taking payouts from gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series. His level of participation has been disputed since news of the scandal broke — Jackson hit .375 in the series — but at a minimum, he knew of the plans and did not report them. He may have also received thousands of dollars in cash. A Chicago jury acquitted the players in 1921, but Jackson, along with his alleged co-conspirators, received lifetime bans from professional baseball.
The Hall of Fame would not open until 1936. As Manfred noted in his letter to Rose’s attorney, there was no rule preventing permanently ineligible players from consideration. Because of that loophole, Jackson’s name came up for a vote as part of the 1936 inaugural class and again in 1946. He was denied both times and died in 1951.
Eddie Cicotte
Another member of the disgraced 1919 White Sox, Cicotte confessed to participating in the scheme to fix the World Series. Despite being the first player to admit he took part, he later rescinded his confession before being acquitted. He was lit up in Game 1 of that World Series, allowing six runs in 3.2 innings, but he allowed only one earned run across his other two starts, both complete games. One of the top pitchers of his time, Cicotte had a 2.38 ERA and allowed 32 home runs over his 14-year professional career. His WAR was 57.9. He died in 1969 at 84 years old.
Eight members of the 1919 White Sox were banned for a gambling scheme to throw the World Series. (Bettmann / Getty Images)
Happy Felsch
An outfielder, Felsch was also part of the 1919 White Sox. He publicly admitted taking $5,000, just over $93,400 in today’s money, to help lose the World Series, in which he hit just .192. During his six-year professional career, Felsch had a .293 batting average in 2,812 at-bats and hit 38 home runs, with 443 RBI. He died in 1964 at 74 years old.
Chick Gandil
Nearly 40 years after the “Black Sox” scandal, Gandil admitted in a Sports Illustrated tell-all that he organized the plan to fix the 1919 World Series. The first baseman said he and Cicotte were the leaders of the plot. He had a .277 batting average, with 11 home runs and 556 RBI in his career, but he hit just .233 in the 1919 Series. Gandil died in 1970 at 82 years old.
Fred McMullin
McMullin was a backup third baseman for the 1919 White Sox. He only had two plate appearances in the series, but served as an advance scout for the team. McMullin joined the fixing scheme after hearing teammates discuss the plan, threatening to report them if they didn’t let him in on it. He played for six years, recording 234 hits in 914 at-bats, a single home run and 72 RBI. He died in 1952 at 61 years old.
Swede Risberg
Risberg served as another leader of the 1919 White Sox scandal. He played a pivotal role in the team’s 1917 World Series win, but two years later, he helped pull together conspirators to throw the Series, during which he went just 2-for-25 (.080). His batting average stood at .243 when his four-year career ended. A few years of semipro ball followed. Risberg died on his 81st birthday in 1975.
Buck Weaver
Weaver did not participate in fixing the 1919 World Series, but he also did not report his teammates after learning of their plan. He turned down money to play poorly — and hit .324 — but was banned anyway for not speaking up. Weaver recorded a .272 batting average over 4,809 at-bats. He played for nine years and applied for reinstatement six times after his ban. None of those requests succeeded, and he died in 1956 at 65 years old.
Buck Weaver hit .324 in the 1919 World Series, but was banned from baseball because he was aware of a gambling scheme and did not report it. (Photo: APA / Getty Images)
Lefty Williams
Williams was a starting pitcher for the 1919 White Sox during their scandalous World Series run. He had a 3.91 ERA over his seven-year career with an 82-49 record in the majors. Williams lost all three of his starts in the 1919 Series, a record that stood alone until George Frazier tied it in 1981. He played in barnstorming leagues after his ban from pro ball and died in 1959 at 66 years old.
Joe Gedeon
While not a member of the 1919 White Sox, Gedeon was banned alongside the players accused of fixing the World Series that year. A friend of Risberg, Gedeon allegedly attended a meeting with some of the gamblers who funded the scheme. He originally did not report what he heard, but was banned after testifying in the trial. In a seven-year career with the Washington Nationals, New York Yankees and St. Louis Browns, Gedeon had a batting average of .244 in 2,109 at-bats. He was 47 years old when he died in 1941.
Gene Paulette
Like Gedeon, Paulette was not part of the 1919 White Sox but was caught up in the fallout of the scandal. He admitted to taking money from gamblers to lose games while playing for St. Louis in 1919. Paulette played for six seasons and recorded a .269 batting average across 1,780 at-bats. He died at 74 years old in 1966.
Benny Kauff
Kauff was the first player to be banned from baseball for a reason other than working with gamblers to fix game outcomes. He was accused of stealing a car, repainting it and selling it with his brother in December 1919. Though he denied the charges and a jury acquitted him, he received a lifetime ban from baseball. In eight years and 3,094 at-bats, he recorded a .311 batting average and .450 slugging percentage. Kauff died in 1961 at 71 years old.
Lee Magee
The grand jury investigating the 1919 White Sox reviewed evidence that Magee fixed at least one game on Aug. 31 that season while playing for the Chicago Cubs. Magee denied the accusation, but the Cubs released him anyway. He had a .276 batting average over his nine-year career in 3,741 at-bats, and died in 1966 at 76.
Phil Douglas
In 1922, while playing for the New York Giants, Douglas was suspended over a dispute with team owner John McGraw. He had won a World Series with the team the year prior. While suspended, Douglas wrote a letter to a player on another team saying he would accept money to abandon the Giants so they would lose games. He was banned for life, having posted a 2.80 ERA over his nine-year career. Douglas died in 1952 at 62 years old.
Jimmy O’Connell and Cozy Dolan
O’Connell, an outfielder for the New York Giants, and Dolan, the Giants’ coach, were banned for taking money from gamblers and attempting to fix games. In 1924, they allegedly offered Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Heinie Sand $500 to help the team lose a series of games that would affect the outcome of the Giants’ race for the pennant. Sand turned them down and reported them.
Dolan spent seven years as a player before becoming a coach. His batting average was .252 across 1,187 at-bats, and he died in 1958 at 68. O’Connell only spent two years playing professionally, notching a .270 batting average in 356 at-bats. He died in 1976 at age 75.
William Cox
A lumber entrepreneur, Cox owned the Philadelphia Phillies for 276 days before becoming the first non-player to be banned from baseball. The team’s manager, Bucky Harris, said he heard Cox’s secretary asking about betting odds and asked her if Cox was gambling on games. According to Harris, she said it was common knowledge within the Phillies that Cox was. Cox eventually admitted making the bets, but said he did not know it was against the rules to do so. He died in 1989 at 79 years old.
(Top photo of the Hall of Fame: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)