Sports
The Pete Rose situation explained: What a Trump pardon, commissioner discussions may mean

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is reviewing a request for Pete Rose to be removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list, which could lead to his eventual selection to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
According to reports published last Saturday, Manfred met with Rose’s daughter, Fawn, and his former lawyer Jeffrey Lenkov about reinstatement in December. A formal petition was submitted on Jan. 8.
On Friday evening, one day before that news was reported, President Donald Trump posted on social media that he planned to posthumously pardon Rose and advocated for MLB to rescind Rose’s lifetime ban, which was issued in 1989 after he was found to be betting on baseball. Rose died on Sept. 30, 2024, at age 83.
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Rose had previously applied for reinstatement in 1997 and 2015 but was denied both times.
Would a Trump pardon make Rose eligible for the Hall of Fame?
No. Any presidential pardon would be entirely unrelated to MLB’s disciplinary process, which is what is keeping Rose out of the Hall of Fame. Trump didn’t specify what a pardon would be for, but Rose was sentenced to five months in prison for submitting falsified tax returns in 1990. (Rose also faced allegations of sex with a minor stemming from testimony that surfaced in a 2017 defamation lawsuit; he was never charged with a crime in that instance).
Why was Rose on baseball’s permanently ineligible list?
In the aftermath of the accusations that the Chicago White Sox threw the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Major League Baseball instituted an official rule against gambling. MLB Rule 21(d) states: “Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.”
An investigation into Rose showed that he bet on baseball both as a player and a manager while with the Cincinnati Reds late in his career. Rose served as the Reds’ player-manager from August 1984 until 1986. He continued to manage the Reds after he stopped playing.
Rose denied gambling on baseball at the time. He later claimed he had an understanding that he could apply for reinstatement a year after agreeing to the punishment. The commissioner at the time, A. Bartlett Giamatti, died eight days after Rose’s banishment. His successor, Fay Vincent, never heard Rose’s appeal.
After denying that he bet on baseball for nearly 15 years, Rose admitted to betting on baseball in his 2004 book, “My Prison Without Bars.” Later, he would sign and sell baseballs with the inscription, “Sorry I bet on baseball.”
So what would need to happen for Rose to be eligible?
The first step would be removal from Major League Baseball’s permanently ineligible list. Rose voluntarily agreed to his punishment in 1989 after an investigation determined he had violated baseball’s rules against gambling on the sport.
In 1991, the Hall of Fame instituted a rule barring anyone on the permanently ineligible list from being eligible for the Hall of Fame. Rose’s first year of eligibility on the Baseball Writers Association of America Hall of Fame ballot would’ve been in 1991. If Rose’s ban is lifted, he would be eligible for the first time.
Who would vote on Rose’s candidacy?
If Rose is deemed eligible, he would not be on the ballot sent to the Hall of Fame voters from the BBWAA every November. Instead, he would be subject to the voting process of the Era Committee, formerly and more colloquially known as the Veterans Committee.
According to a statement from the Hall of Fame, “Voting rules require that candidates on the BBWAA ballot must have played in the Major Leagues no more than 15 years prior to each election. Since Rose’s candidacy with the BBWAA has expired, if he were to be removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list, he would become eligible for consideration by the Hall of Fame’s Era Committee process.”
The Era Committee is divided into two parts — Contemporary Baseball Era and Classic Baseball Era. The Classic Baseball Era considers the cases of players, managers, executives and umpires who were most active before 1980 and the Contemporary Era handles those from 1980 to the present. The Contemporary is also divided into two parts — one for players and the other for managers, executives and umpires.
Rose’s greatest contributions to the game — the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1963, the NL Most Valuable Player in 1973, three batting titles, two World Series titles and two more NL pennants, the bulk of his 4,256 hits — came before 1980. Rose won another World Series with the Phillies in 1980, appeared in the World Series with Philadelphia in 1983 and broke Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record in 1985.
The Classic Baseball Era committee meets every three years and will hold its next vote in December 2027, meaning Rose’s next chance at actual induction would likely come in July of 2028.
Last December, the Classic Baseball Era committee elected Dick Allen and Dave Parker. Parker, like Rose, is a Cincinnati native and played for Rose with the Reds. He and Allen, who died in 2020, will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner this July.
The Era Committee consists of 16 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members. As with the BBWAA ballot, a candidate must receive 75 percent of the votes from the committee to be elected to the Hall.
What has Manfred said about Rose in the past?
For Rose’s family’s appeal to be successful, Manfred would have to go back on previous statements that he believed permanent banishment is the appropriate punishment for gambling on baseball.
Rose sent a letter to Manfred in 2022 asking for forgiveness. In November of that season, Manfred told The Athletic’s Evan Drellich that he believed the punishment was just.
“I believe that when you bet on baseball, from Major League Baseball’s perspective, you belong on the permanently ineligible list,” Manfred said in 2022. “When I dealt with the issue, the last time he applied for reinstatement, I made clear that I didn’t think that the function of that baseball list was the same as the eligibility criteria for the Hall of Fame. That remains my position. I think it’s a conversation that really belongs in the Hall of Fame board. I’m on that board, and it’s just not appropriate for me to get in front of that conversation.”
When Manfred denied Rose’s petition for reinstatement in 2015, he said Rose’s conduct was among the reasons he denied the request, writing: “In short, Mr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life either by an honest acceptance by him of his wrongdoing, so clearly established by the Dowd Report, or by a rigorous, self-aware and sustained program of avoidance by him of all the circumstances that led to his permanent ineligibility in 1989.”
(Photo of Rose: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

Sports
Buccaneers bring back 464-pound defensive lineman Desmond Watson

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-signed defensive tackle Desmond Watson and added him to the practice squad as the team prepares to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4.
Watson, the 464-pound rookie defensive lineman out of Florida, failed to make the 53-man roster in the preseason. He was forced to the sideline as he failed to meet the conditioning requirements to take the field. He was considered to be the heaviest player in NFL history.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Desmond Watson (56) warms up during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Rookie Mini Camp workout on May 9, 2025 at the AdventHealth Training Center in Tampa, Florida. (Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said on Monday that Watson had a “good workout” when the team brought him in last week.
The Buccaneers will look to try to find a way to stop the Eagles’ tush push, which has come under the spotlight in the last few weeks as it appeared some players had been jumping before the ball was snapped to Jalen Hurts.
Bowles said Watson wasn’t just being brought in as the answer to the tush push.
“We’ll never bring him in just to stop a tush push. If we’ve got to bring in a guy to stop one play and the tush push never comes up, you’re wasting your time,” Bowles said. “If we bring him in, we think he can play, not just for a Philadelphia thing.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Desmond Watson watches from the sideline during practice at NFL football training camp, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
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“It’s very unlikely he’d be ready to play, once we bring him in, for Philadelphia right now anyway. It’s just a matter of us making room and seeing if we have a place for him, and then what we see for him in the future.”
The 6-foot-6 defensive tackle was working with a nutritionist during the summer. The team didn’t say what an ideal weight for him would be.
Watson spoke about his weight gain to reporters earlier this year. He said he would consistently stop off to get food while at Florida.
“Stopping while driving,” Watson said when asked about bad habits he’s tried to shed at his pro day. “My biggest thing is keep going, get to where I need to get. There are stores and a lot of temptations. That’s helped me immensely.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers nose tackle Desmond Watson (56) runs a drill during the NFL football team’s rookie minicamp Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Florida. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
“Don’t go inside the gas station. Pay at the pump. Because inside it’s snacks and all types of things like that. Don’t pull over. If you’re on the highway, stay on the highway until you get where you’ve got to go.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sports
Prep talk: Another day, another life saved by high school athletic trainer

For those high schools in California that still don’t have an athletic trainer, what happened last week at San Clemente High was another reason why they are so valuable for the safety reasons. And also proven was the requirement that coaches be certified in CPR every two years.
As a soccer class was ending last Thursday, an assistant coach fell to the ground. Head coach Chris Murray thought he tripped. Then he looked into his eyes, which appeared dilated, and saw that his face was purple. While a football coach nearby was calling 911, Murray began chest compressions.
Athletic trainer Amber Anaya received a text in her office that said, “Emergency.” She got into her golf cart that contained her automated external defibrilator (AED) machine and raced to the field within two minutes. She determined the coach was in cardiac arrest.
While Anaya hooked up her AED machine to the coach, Murray continued chest compressions. The AED machine evaluated the patient and recommended one shock. This went on for some seven minutes until paramedics arrived. Another shock was given after the paramedics took over.
The coach was transported to a hospital and survived. He would receive a pacemaker. It was a happy ending thanks to people who knew what to do in case of an emergency.
Last school year, the Culver City athletic trainer helped save a track athlete who went into cardiac arrest.
Murray said what he did was based on instincts and adrenaline. As soon as the ambulance left, he said he collapsed to his knee exhausted.
“His ribs are sore but not broken,” Murray said, “so I guess I did good.”
All the preparation in case of an emergency was put to good use by the coach trained in CPR and the athletic trainer who knew how to use an AED machine.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Sports
Police investigating USA Cycling incident as footage of organizers' interaction with activist goes viral

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Police in Livermore, California, are investigating an incident that occurred at a USA Cycling event on Sunday, when organizers were seen berating a women’s sports activist who was inquiring about sex tests.
“At the moment, we are looking into the matter and are in the process of reviewing our report and video footage,” a Livermore Police Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Footage of the interaction at USA Cycling’s Oakland Grand Prix has gone viral in recent days.
Beth Bourne, a California activist known to oppose biological male athletes in women’s and girls’ sports, was seen in the footage asking organizers if the women’s competitors at the event had been sex-tested to prove they were not male. One organizer was then seen approaching Bourne and covering her camera, saying, “We have policies in place. You can stop filming me.”
Bourne was then heard saying, “Give me my phone!”
The footage then showed Bourne walking away from that organizer in a panic before another organizer came up behind her to shout, “Hey! Get the f— out of here!”
Bourne told Fox News Digital that the incident was “emotional.”
“It was so unexpected. I have an idea that we’re going to have people maybe calling us names, or maybe calling us TERFs, which we’ve had, maybe even grabbing our signs. But to have somebody come up from behind me, before I even, I hadn’t even gotten a sign out, I had just asked two or three questions, so that shocked me, I was scared,” Bourne said.
“I was actually terrified, I was terrified that this person might really, really hurt me.”
Additional footage of the incident showed the same organizer who yelled in Bourne’s face later putting a pizza box in front of her face, covering the view of Bourne’s camera, then picking up her protest signs and throwing them in the garbage.
Bourne alleged that the organizer told her, “Your God isn’t going to protect you.”
“‘You’re just a hateful, awful person’” he told Bourne, she alleged. “And then he grabs all my signs and takes them and puts them in the trash can next to the start and finish area. And like that’s insane to me, that someone would grab someone’s property and throw it in the trash can, and it would be the race organizer himself.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to USA Cycling for comment, but has not received a response.
The same event also drew scrutiny for another viral video of transgender cyclist Chelsea Wolfe telling protesters, “Go suck a sawed-off shotgun,” “You’re a Nazi piece of s—,” and “We kill Nazis.”
Chelsea Wolfe of Team USA competes in the women’s final during the BMX Freestyle World Cup on Dec. 11, 2022, in Gold Coast, Australia. (Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
Wolfe, a former Team USA alternate in women’s BMX who previously said the athlete wanted to win an Olympic medal to “burn the American flag,” took to social media to share multiple posts celebrating Charlie Kirk’s assassination last week.
“We did it!” Wolfe wrote in an Instagram Story sharing a report on the assassination last Wednesday.

Police in Livermore, California are investigating an incident at a USA Cycling event where a ‘protect women’s sports’ protester was berated by organizers. (Getty Images, Courtesy of Beth Bourne)
USA Cycling provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing Wolfe’s posts.
“The views of current and former national team athletes are their own and do not reflect those of USA Cycling. Chelsea Wolfe has not been a member of the USA Cycling National Team or a member of USA Cycling since 2023,” the statement read.
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