Pete Rose can be considered for the Hall of Fame. Will that help Barry Bonds?

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Many times over the past decade, I thought Barry Bonds would gain momentum to reach the Hall of Fame.

After Willie McCovey in 2017 and Willie Mays in 2018 campaigned for Bonds, I imagined it would make a difference on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. It didn’t.

Amid the worldwide pandemic that evolved in 2020, I figured voters would be more forgiving about this little matter of who gets to the Cooperstown shrine and who doesn’t. They weren’t.

When Bonds moved to the veterans’ committee ballot, I was convinced a 2022 vote of his peers – seven Hall of Fame players were on the 16-member voting committee – could give him more leverage. I was wrong.

Now this.

Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson on Tuesday were removed from the permanently ineligible list by commissioner Rob Manfred, making them eligible for the Hall of Fame and possible induction as early as the summer of 2028. Rose and Jackson had been banned by previous commissioners for breaking Rule 21 and betting on baseball.

I’m feeling again that Bonds could gain momentum. I could be mistaken once more, but if the hits king is inducted, why couldn’t it have a carryover effect for the homers king?

Rose bet on baseball games, violating the sport’s cardinal rule, and was permanently banned in 1989 by then-commissioner Bart Giamatti just as Shoeless Joe and seven Chicago White Sox teammates were tossed from the game by commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis for their involvement in fixing the 1919 World Series. Based on Manfred’s ruling, it’s now Eight Men In.

While Rose is linked to gambling, Bonds is linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Both are no-nos. Both are practices that shouldn’t be condoned. Both are blemishes on the sport. Both are forms of cheating the game. But when we speak of gambling and steroids together, where do we draw the line? Manfred drew it clearly and sharply for Rose, creating a clear path to Cooperstown by ruling that the punishment of banned players ends at death because they “cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game.” Rose died in September at 83.

For Bonds, that path remains heavily detoured. He’s not banned. Not on any ineligible list. Wasn’t omitted from the ballot like Rose. In fact, he spent 10 years on the BBWAA ballot and one year on the Contemporary Baseball Era ballot, in 2022, never receiving the required 75 percent to secure enshrinement.

He’ll next be considered for December’s contemporary ballot in advance of the 2026 class, though the Hall of Fame’s new rule that anyone receiving fewer than five votes must sit out the next three-year election cycle – and anyone with fewer than five on multiple ballots would lose future eligibility – could further complicate matters.

But if voters ultimately side with Rose by determining that only performance matters in a player’s Hall of Fame candidacy, shouldn’t the same apply to Bonds? Rule 5 on the ballot asks voters to consider a player’s integrity, sportsmanship and character, and that provided justification for voters to reject Bonds. If Rule 5 is ignored with Rose, why would it need to remain applicable with Bonds?

On the other hand, let’s be clear: Rose is no shoo-in to be selected. His off-field issues beyond gambling are well-documented including his five-month prison sentence for tax evasion and reported sexual relationship with a minor. He’d need to be nominated by the Historical Overview Committee and placed on the Classic Baseball Era ballot that includes candidates whose impact came before 1980.

To be elected, he’d need 12 votes among a 16-person electorate of Hall of Famers, executives, and veteran media members/historians, so all it would take is five naysayers, and he’d be rejected. Remember, in 2022, Bonds received fewer than four votes even though the electorate included seven Hall of Famers who played in his era – Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Jack Morris, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Frank Thomas and Alan Trammell – a far cry from the 66 percent he received from the writers on the final BBWAA ballot.

For a long time, I was a proponent of keeping Rose out of the Hall of Fame because of how his case could serve as a deterrent for active players, a lesson on the dangers of gambling. The more MLB and its owners jumped into bed with gamblers, including partnering with casinos and fantasy sports operators and placing sportsbooks alongside big-league ballparks, the more I’ve softened my stance on Rose.

I have a similar take with PED users, especially with several of them getting inducted along with former commissioner Bud Selig, who probably could have done far more to curtail steroid use, which helped generate record crowds and big bucks for owners.

I’m fine with Rose in the Hall, just like I’m fine with Bonds in the Hall; I voted for him. There’s no disputing both were Cooperstown-bound before their paths went sideways. Both already are acknowledged at the museum in Cooperstown, where the game’s history is told, just not in the sacred plaque gallery, which isn’t exactly a shrine of choir boys and saints anyway.

On that note, it must be mentioned that several PED users undoubtedly are in the Hall of Fame. None are as talented or decorated as Bonds, whose crime seemingly isn’t just being the poster child for the BALCO scandal, it’s also breaking the hallowed homers records.

Aside from the reinstatements of Rose and Jackson, 15 other deceased players are on Manfred’s list including two of the ringleaders of the 1919 Black Sox scandal who had Bay Area ties. First baseman Chick Gandil was raised in Berkeley, dropped out of Oakland High and left home – he retired in Calistoga and is buried in Napa Valley. Shortstop Swede Risberg was born in San Francisco, raised in North Beach and survived the 1906 earthquake – later in life, he ran a tavern in Weed and relocated to Red Bluff, and is buried at Mount Shasta.

Neither is Hall of Fame worthy, but their stories and legacies have returned to the forefront with Manfred’s policy that permanent ineligibility of banned players ends with their death. Shortly after Manfred’s announcement, the Hall of Fame released a statement saying anyone removed from the permanently ineligible list can be considered for the Hall.

That includes Rose. We’ll see what that means for Bonds.