Latest news with #BaseballHallOfFame
Fox News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Trump one of 'supportive' voices to back Pete Rose's removal from ineligible list, MLB commish says
Scrutiny increased over Pete Rose's Baseball Hall of Fame eligibility once the former Cincinnati Reds star died last year, as President Donald Trump weighed in with his own thoughts on the issue. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred removed Rose, and several other players, from the ineligible list in May, allowing the possibility of those athletes being voted into the Hall of Fame. He admitted at a news conference owners meeting on Wednesday that Trump's support for Rose was one of the many factors that went into the decision. "The president was one of a number of voices that was supportive of the idea that this was the right decision," Manfred said. "Obviously, I have respect for the office and the advice that he gave I paid attention to, but I had a lot of other people that were weighing in on the topic, as well." Trump wrote on Truth Social in March that he planned to pardon Rose. He and Manfred met in April about Rose's Hall of Fame candidacy. "Major League Baseball didn't have the courage or decency to put the late, great, Pete Rose, also known as 'Charlie Hustle,' into the Baseball Hall of fame. Now he is dead, will never experience the thrill of being selected, even though he was a FAR BETTER PLAYER than most of those who made it, and can only be named posthumously. WHAT A SHAME!" the president wrote. "Anyway, over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn't have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING. He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history. Baseball, which is dying all over the place, should get off its fat, lazy a--, and elect Pete Rose, even though far too late, into the Baseball Hall of Fame!" Rose died last September at the age of 83 from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The effort to get Rose a plaque in Cooperstown took a step forward on May 13. "This issue has never been formally addressed by Major League Baseball, but an application filed by the family of Pete Rose has made it incumbent upon the Office of the Commissioner to reach a policy decision on this unprecedented issue in the modern era as Mr. Rose is the first person banned after the tenure of Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis to die while still on the ineligible list. Commissioner Manfred has concluded that MLB's policy shall be that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual," the MLB said. Rose admitted to gambling in 2004 after years of claiming his innocence. He died in September and predicted 10 days before his death he would not make the Hall of Fame until after he died, if at all. It was found that Rose gambled on the Reds, only to win, while he was both a manager and a player. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Reuters
3 days ago
- General
- Reuters
Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima dies at 89
June 3 - Shigeo Nagashima, a Japanese Baseball Hall of Famer who spent more than three decades as a player and manager for the Yomiuri Giants, died Tuesday. He was 89. The Giants said Nagashima died of pneumonia at a Tokyo hospital. Nagashima won an impressive 11 Japan Series championships in his 17-year playing career, including nine straight from 1965-73. Nicknamed Mr. Giants and Mr. Professional Baseball, Nagashima played in 2,186 games for the club and was a career .305 batter who hit 444 home runs, 418 doubles and 74 triples while driving in 1,522 runs. He stole 190 bases and scored 1,270 runs. Shortly after his retirement, he was named the Giants' manager. He held the role from 1975-80 and was fired but returned as the manager from 1993-2001, leading the Giants to two championships in 1994 and 2000. Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, the country's biggest present-day sports icon, posted photos of himself with Nagashima on Instagram with the caption, "May your soul rest in peace." --Field Level Media
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Mariners will retire Randy Johnson's No. 51 during the 2026 season
SEATTLE (AP) — Hall of Famer Randy Johnson's No. 51 will be retired by the Seattle Mariners during a pregame ceremony next season, the club announced Monday. Johnson threw the first no-hitter in Mariners' history on June 2, 1990 — 35 years ago Monday — and in 1995 became their first Cy Young Award winner. The exact date of the ceremony will be announced after the 2026 major league schedule is finalized. Johnson, 61, went 130-74 with a 3.42 ERA across 10 seasons with the Mariners. 'I'm happy that my contributions over the 10 years that I was there are being acknowledged now,' Johnson said via Zoom. 'It's been a long time, that's for sure.' Johnson enjoyed more success with the Arizona Diamondbacks, with whom he won four consecutive Cy Young Awards in addition to a World Series championship in 2001. However, the lanky left-hander nicknamed the 'Big Unit' because of his 6-foot-10 frame fondly remembers his Seattle tenure. A year Johnson looks back on with particular fondness is the 1995 season. The Mariners' future in Seattle was cast into doubt when in September of that year, King County voters rejected subsidy taxes to build a new stadium. Simultaneously, the Mariners enjoyed a prosperous season on the field at the Kingdome, which culminated in reaching the AL Championship Series before falling to the Cleveland Indians. Ultimately, the King County Council approved funding for a new stadium. 'Looking back at it now and that story being documented by the Mariners, it worked out,' Johnson said. 'I'm just thankful that I was a big part of that and everybody else was a big part of it, and everything just kind of jelled for all the players.' That season, Johnson went 18-2 with a 2.48 ERA during a 145-game season and won his first of five Cy Young Awards. But Johnson didn't hang around Seattle much longer; he was traded to the Houston Astros midway through the 1998 season. Johnson signed with the Diamondbacks as a free agent ahead of the 1999 campaign, and enjoyed some of the most successful seasons of his major league career across eight years in Arizona. As a result, Johnson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame wearing a Diamondbacks cap. 'To me, it was a difficult choice,' Johnson said. 'But, it was the right choice because statistically, I did more (in Arizona). Now if I could split the plaque and put a little bit of an M and a little bit of an A.' Even so, Johnson is grateful for his years in Seattle and looking forward to his moment in the sun. It will be a separate occasion from the No. 51 jersey retirement of right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, which is planned for Aug. 9. In 2001, three years after Johnson left Seattle, Suzuki arrived and wore jersey No. 51. Johnson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. Suzuki will be inducted on July 27. Johnson's No. 51 will be the fifth number retired in Mariners' history, joining Ken Griffey Jr. (No. 24), Edgar Martinez (No. 11) and Suzuki. All MLB teams have retired Jackie Robinson's No. 42. 'I know the significance of Ichiro and his accomplishments, and I didn't want to interfere with his Hall of Fame induction this year or his number retirement this year,' Johnson said. 'And so, the one contingent factor I had was if this was going to happen that I didn't want to take away anything from his deserving day.' ___ AP MLB:
Reuters
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Reuters
Mariners to retire No. 51 in honor of Randy Johnson in 2026
June 2 - Seattle Mariners fans will be seeing double 51s next season. The team announced Monday it will retire the No. 51 worn by Baseball Hall of Fame member Randy Johnson during his nine-plus seasons with the club in 2026. The news came on the 35th anniversary of the day Johnson threw the first no-hitter in Mariners history. The Mariners traded Johnson to the Houston Astros at the 1998 trade deadline, and when Japanese star Ichiro Suzuki joined the team in 2001, he took No. 51. The Ichiro version of No. 51 will be retired by the franchise on Aug. 9, just after his Hall of Fame induction this summer. "Randy is both one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball history, and one of the most important figures in our organization's history," said John Stanton, the Mariners' chairman and managing partner. "During the 1995 season that changed the future of this franchise, his 18-2 record (in a 145-game season) was properly recognized with his first Cy Young Award. "More importantly, and somewhat lost to history, the Mariners were an amazing 27-3 in his 30 starts that season, an incredible 24 games over .500, compared to a record of 52-63 when any other starter took to the hill for the club. His domination that year carried the Mariners to our first-ever postseason, which led directly to the construction of T-Mobile Park and the Mariners remaining safely in Seattle forever. "Randy's extraordinary accomplishments will forever be remembered and recognized with the retirement of his number 51." The date for the Johnson retirement ceremony will not be set until the 2026 schedule is issued. Ichiro will become the third Mariners player to have his number retired, joining the No. 24 of Ken Griffey Jr. and No. 11 of Edgar Martinez -- both Hall of Fame inductees. Johnson, also a Hall of Fame member, will be the fourth. The Mariners, like all MLB teams, also have retired Jackie Robinson's No. 42. In his 22-year career, Johnson, now 61, had a record of 303-166, a 3.29 ERA and 4,875 strikeouts, second only to Nolan Ryan (5,714) in major league history. He and Ryan are two of the only four players to record at least 300 wins and 4,000 strikeouts, joining Roger Clemens and Steve Carlton on the short list. He was a 10-time All-Star and won five Cy Young awards, his first with Seattle in 1995. With the Mariners, he was 130-74 with a 3.42 ERA in 274 appearances (266 starts) with a now unheard of 51 complete games and 19 shutouts. He also played for the Montreal Expos (1988-89), Astros (1998), Arizona Diamondbacks (1999-2004, 2007-08), New York Yankees (2005-06) and San Francisco Giants (2009). The Diamondbacks retired his number in 2015. --Field Level Media
Fox News
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Longtime Reds announcer slams MLB for 'wrong' timing on Pete Rose Hall of Fame eligibility
Longtime Cincinnati Reds announcer Marty Brennaman expressed his frustration with Major League Baseball's (MLB's) timing of the removal of Pete Rose from the permanently ineligible list. Brennaman, 82, who announced Reds games from 1974-2019, said for MLB to make Rose eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame just months after his death was "the wrong way to go." "I just felt that he had served his jail time, if you will, far longer than he really should've had to do it. And the fact that they rushed to make him eligible within a matter of months, to me, was the wrong way to go about doing business," Brennaman told TMZ. "I'm just trying to reconcile in my own mind why they waited as long as they did. And then, within a matter of months after Pete's passing in September, now they come out, and they announce in grand fashion that they have lifted the suspension and made he and 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson — there may be others I'm not even aware of — eligible to be considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame." Brennaman said that Rose had come to terms with the fact that he would not make the Baseball Hall of Fame while he was alive. "He had come to grips with the fact that it was not going to happen until after he passed away. He said as much to a number of different people. He obviously wanted it to happen while he could enjoy it. At the same time, he made the comment that being in the Hall of Fame is more for the family than anybody else," Brennaman said. "So obviously he was thinking about his kids and enhancing the legacy that has, at times, been very, very tarnished, we all know that. And a lot of the things that Pete was involved with were of his own doing. Nobody could ever dispute that, and Pete certainly wouldn't have done that anymore, after he admitted that he bet on baseball." Despite Rose's wishes to have witnessed his potential Hall of Fame induction, Brennaman said that Rose would take solace that his family would at least get to enjoy it. "But I think at the end of the day, if the best that he could get would be to go for his family, it would probably be satisfying for him right now." Rose is MLB's hit king with 4,256 career hits. He was the National League MVP in 1974 and was a 17-time All-Star, a three-time World Series champion and a three-time batting champion. However, the Reds star became a polarizing figure when news of his gambling on games rocked the sports world. Rose received a lifetime ban from MLB in 1989, but after Tuesday's announcement, will be eligible to be voted on for the first time. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
