Ohio House panel lobbies for Pete Rose inclusion in baseball HOF

COLUMBUS — An Ohio House panel had its first – and likely only – hearing today on a resolution urging Hall of Fame eligibility for former Cincinnati Reds great Pete Rose.

State Rep. Michael Sheehy, D-Toledo, told the chamber’s Government Accountability and Oversight Committee that Rose, banned from baseball for gambling on the sport, deserved the honor.

“His style of play has undoubtedly made him one of the best American athletes of all time and certainly one of the best baseball players of all time,” Sheehy said. “The hustle, heart, determination and effort displayed on the field are something that everyone can admire and became his trademark.”

Sheehy’s House Concurrent Resolution 15 and a companion resolution introduced in the Ohio Senate won’t move this session. But more than a dozen state lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, have signed on as sponsors or co-sponsors of the resolutions.

They’re symbolic gestures that don’t change state law or institute any new requirements – rather, they would formalize the legislature’s opinion about Rose and his eligibility for the Hall of Fame.

Rose admitted betting on baseball games and has been ineligible for consideration into the sport’s Hall of Fame, though there have been movements to change that.

Sheehy said Rose should be removed from Major League Baseball’s permanently ineligible list and included on future Hall of Fame ballots.