I hope Pete Rose is grateful.

Baseball's all-time home run king (without asterisks) and sports legend Hank Aaron is campaigning for disgraced hit leader Pete Rose to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Commissioner Bud Selig is listening and is now said to be considering making Rose eligible.

The tip-off that may have led Selig to consider pardoning Rose was Hank Aaron's seemingly impromptu interview session with a small group of reporters in the lobby of the Otesaga Hotel on Saturday.

In declaring for the first time that he would want an asterisk put on the achievements of any steroid cheats elected to the Hall of Fame, Aaron brought up Rose, who, in August of 1989, was given a lifetime ban for gambling on baseball, saying: "I would like to see Pete in. He belongs there." Source: MLB Commissioner Bud Selig mulling pardon for hit king Pete Rose, NY Daily News

Even if Selig reinstates Rose, it would likely be with major conditions attached. Rose could be required to make another public apology and would most likely be prohibited from managing. Even then, it's not a done deal.

If Selig does reinstate him, Rose then would become eligible for the Hall of Fame but only on the Veterans Committee ballot, as his 15 years on the Baseball Writers ballot expired during his time on the ineligible list. He would thus have to be elected by his peers, the 65 living members in the Hall of Fame, not all of whom agree with Aaron, Morgan and Robinson that Rose has done his time. It's hard to say if he would get the necessary 75 percent for election.

"I know there are still guys who feel strongly against him," said one Hall of Famer, "and I don't know if that would change even if Selig clears him." Source: NY Daily News

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