Donald Trump had more than one debate on his mind when his vice presidential candidate JD Vance battled Democrat Tim Walz on Tuesday evening.
Midway through Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, Trump joined the sports world in speaking out about Pete Rose and the controversial MLB legend’s lifetime ban.
Rose, a three-time World Series winner, died Monday at his home in Las Vegas at the age of 83. It was later revealed that the king of all time died of heart disease and that he was also battling diabetes.
Although considered one of the greatest players in history, the MLB icon’s career was highly controversial after he was banned from the sport for betting on the Cincinnati Reds as both a player and manager of the team.
The ban prevented him from being inducted into the Hall of Fame, something that Rose begged the MLB to overturn several times until the end of his life.
Donald Trump paid tribute to MLB legend Pete Rose after his death at the age of 83
Rose was banned from the sport for betting while she was both a player and manager of the Reds
And the former president joined Rose’s cause Tuesday night, urging MLB to induct the Reds legend before his funeral.
“The AMAZING Pete Rose just passed away,” the 78-year-old posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“He was one of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game. He paid the price! Major League Baseball should have inducted him into the Hall of Fame years ago. Do it now, before his funeral! D.J.T.’
The Republican candidate was not the only one to advocate for Rose’s appointment, as Stephen A. Smith also denounced the ban, saying that “murderers have been released faster” than he has.
‘People make mistakes. Murderers have been released faster than Pete Rose,” he said on First Take Tuesday morning.
“And baseball wants to sit there with its high and mighty hypocritical self and literally denigrate this man. In 1999 he got a standing ovation in Atlanta during the World Series…they gave him a standing ovation! The American public said, ‘stop all that, we want this man here!’
Just a few weeks before his death, Rose admitted he was still hoping for forgiveness.
“I can’t change Pete Rose’s history,” he told Texas television station KLTV in an interview published on September 7.
The former president questioned whether Rose should be inducted into the Hall of Fame
Trump took to social media as his running mate JD Vance participated in the VP debate
The King of All Time ban prevented him from being inducted into the Hall of Fame
“I keep convincing myself or telling myself, ‘Hang in there, Pete, you’ll get a second chance.’
“This is the only country that gives you a second chance,” Rose added. “I keep hoping that one day I will get a second chance, and that I won’t need a third.”
In addition to his gambling scandal, Rose has also been accused in recent years of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a minor in the 1970s.
In 2017, the Phillies canceled his induction into the team’s Wall of Fame after a Cincinnati woman said in federal court that she had a sexual relationship with the married Rose that began during his first stint with the Reds in 1973, when she was 14 or 15. .
However, Rose was never charged with statutory rape and the statute of limitations has expired.
Although he has reportedly admitted to the relationship, he has maintained that he believed she was 16 at the time of the affair, making her old enough in the state of Ohio to consent to sexual activity.
In recent years, Rose has performed at Reds games in Cincinnati, where he remains considered one of the best players in team history and one of the city’s favorite homegrown athletes.
Rose still harbored hopes for a “second chance” in baseball weeks before his death
The MLB legend spent 17 seasons in Cincinnati and won a World Series in Philadelphia
Rose spent most of his baseball career with the Cincinnati Reds, but also enjoyed stints with the Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos.
Baseball’s all-time leader in hits (4,256), singles (3,215), games played (3,562) and at-bats (14,053), the Cincinnati native won a pair of World Series with the Reds, another with the Phillies, while hitting . 303 for his career.
A 17-time All-Star, Rose was also the 1973 National League MVP, the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1975 World Series MVP.
He returned to Cincinnati, where he ended his career as a player-manager for the Reds and retired from playing for good in 1986.