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    MLB commissioner Manfred to rule on Pete Rose ban after Trump meeting

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    MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he discussed Pete Rose with Donald Trump at a meeting two weeks ago and he plans to rule on a request to end the sport’s permanent ban of the career hits leader, who died in September.Speaking Monday at a meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors, Manfred said he and Trump have discussed several issues, including Manfred’s concerns over how Trump’s immigration policies could impact players from Cuba, Venezuela and other foreign countries.Manfred is considering a petition to have Rose posthumously removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list. The petition was filed in January by Jeffrey Lenkov, a Southern California lawyer who represented Rose prior to the 17-time All-Star’s death at age 83.“I met with President Trump two weeks ago, I guess now, and one of the topics was Pete Rose, but I’m not going beyond that,” Manfred said. “He’s said what he said publicly, I’m not going beyond that in terms of what the back and forth was.”Trump posted on social media in February that he plans to issue “a complete PARDON of Pete Rose.” Trump posted on Truth Social that Rose “shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING.” It’s unclear what a presidential pardon might include – Trump did not specifically mention a tax case in which Rose pleaded guilty in 1990 to two counts of filing false tax returns and served a five-month prison sentence. The president said he would sign a pardon for Rose “over the next few weeks” but has not addressed the matter since.Rose had 4,256 hits and also holds records for games (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890). He was the 1973 National League MVP and played on three World Series winners.An investigation for MLB by lawyer John M Dowd found Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team. Rose agreed with MLB on a permanent ban in 1989.Lenkov is seeking Rose’s reinstatement so that he can be considered for the Hall of Fame. Under a rule adopted by the Hall’s board of directors in 1991, anyone on the permanently ineligible list can’t be considered for election to the Hall. Rose applied for reinstatement in 1997 and met with Commissioner Bud Selig in November 2002, but Selig never ruled on Rose’s request. Manfred in 2015 denied Rose’s application for reinstatement.Manfred said reinstating Rose now was “a little more complicated than it might appear on the outside” and did not commit to a timeline except that “I want to get it done promptly as soon as we get the work done. I’m not going to give this the pocket veto. I will in fact issue a ruling.”Rose’s reinstatement doesn’t mean he would automatically appear on a Hall of Fame ballot. He would first have to be nominated by the Hall’s Historical Overview Committee, which is picked by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and approved by the Hall’s board. Manfred is an ex-officio member of that board and says he has been in regular contact with chairman Jane Forbes Clark.“I mean, believe me, a lot of Hall of Fame dialogue on this one,” Manfred said.If reinstated, Rose potentially would be eligible for consideration to be placed on a ballot to be considered by the 16-member Classic Baseball Era committee in December 2027.Manfred added he doesn’t think baseball’s current ties to legal sports betting should color views on Rose’s case.“There is and always has been a clear demarcation between what Rob Manfred, ordinary citizen, can do on the one hand, and what someone who has the privilege to play or work in Major League Baseball can do on the other in respect to gambling,” he said. “The fact that the law changed, and we sell data and/or sponsorships, which is essentially all we do, to sports betting enterprises, I don’t think changes that. It’s a privilege to play Major League Baseball. As with every privilege, there comes responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is that they not bet on the game.”Manfred did not go into details on his discussion with Trump over foreign-born players other than to say he expressed worry.“Given the number of foreign-born players we have, we’re always concerned about ingress and egress,” Manfred said. “We have had dialogue with the administration about this topic. And, you know, they’re very interested in sports. They understand the unique need to be able to go back and forth, and I’m going to leave it at that.” More

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      Pro baseball player Tarik El-Abour is everything RFK Jr says he can’t be

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      When Tarik El-Abour was in middle school, his teacher asked him and his classmates a simple question. What do you want to be when you grow up? When it was time for him to answer, El-Abour gave a reply that thousands of children have said before. He wanted to be a baseball player. But his teacher shot back with something less than encouraging: “You’d better have a Plan B.” El-Abour, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, remained undeterred. Rather than listening to his pessimistic instructor, he distanced himself from her.He thought that if he continued to talk to her, she might convince him he was unable to achieve his goal. In the end, he was right, and the teacher was wrong. El-Abour grew up to become a baseball player after receiving a degree in business administration from Bristol University in California. He first played professionally in the Empire League, where he was named rookie of the year in 2016 and was an All-Star in 2017. Then, in 2018, he signed a deal with the Kansas City Royals, a franchise just three years removed from winning the World Series. He played outfield in the minor leagues during the 2018 season, flourishing under the mentorship of JD Nichols of World Wide Baseball Prospects and Reggie Sanders of the Royals, becoming the first recorded autistic player in MLB history.All of this will be news to the US health and human services secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, who said earlier this month that: “Autism destroys families, and more importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children … These are kids who will never pay taxes. They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball. They’ll never write a poem. They’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.”El-Abour chooses to let Kennedy’s comments slide off him.“When it comes to politics,” the 32-year-old tells the Guardian, “I’m so used to crazy stuff being said by people. I’m just in a spot where it doesn’t really get to me. I get that’s just how some things are. The way I look at it, the only things I care about are the things I have control over – like baseball and those I care about most.”El-Abour, who is now playing in the Zone 22 scouting league in Los Angeles and hoping for another shot at the majors, says he doesn’t know what it’s like not to be autistic. But he explains that the way his brain works helps him focus and embrace repetition – both valuable qualities for a ballplayer. “Baseball requires a lot of repetition to be good at it,” he says. “And people with autism tend to be repetitive. I guess that’s maybe where it benefits me.”Kennedy, a fan of doing his own research, may want to note that El-Abour is not the only autistic professional athlete in the US. Tony Snell, who also has two autistic sons, was diagnosed with autism. And he had a nine-year NBA career, playing on several teams, including the Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Pelicans. “Learning I have [autism] helped me understand my whole life,” said Snell in a recent interview. “This is why I am the way I am.” Joe Barksdale, who revealed in 2022 that he was diagnosed with autism, played eight years in the NFL. And Nascar driver Armani Williams also stated publicly he is autistic. Of course, there are more autistic athletes coming up in the ranks, too.“It was a surprise when the [Kennedy] news came out last week,” El-Abour’s mother, Nadia, tells the Guardian. “I wanted to post something then Tarik said, ‘No, the [media] will take care of it.’ Tarik started laughing. He goes, ‘Oh, wow, why did he [Kennedy] choose baseball?’”She says that, unlike some politicians today, her son is very logical. Many autistic people, she explains, don’t attach emotion to the truth. Something simply either is true or it isn’t. “They can’t understand why we don’t accept the truth,” Nadia says. It’s the same reasoning El-Abour employed when flouting his middle school teacher’s “Plan B” idea. In fact, he bristled at it so much that he didn’t even want to be around the energy of the school building, often crossing the street rather than walk near it.“He doesn’t see obstacles,” Nadia says of her son. “He doesn’t think of ‘I can’t.’ He just thinks, ‘How … how can I do that?’”El-Abour, who was non-verbal until he was about six years old, started playing baseball later in life, around 10 years old. At first, he was unsure if he liked the game, which his father signed him up for. But when he got into the batter’s box, something happened. He even gave up his spot as pitcher on the team because he was told pitchers don’t bat in the pros. From then on, he arranged his whole life around things that would make him be a better player. He painted an X on the garage to practice his throwing accuracy. He took fly balls into the night with his coaches. Rather than, as Kennedy would have us believe, baseball was something unattainable for El-Abour, it helped him blossom.Indeed, El-Abour’s life is a far cry from the picture Kennedy Jr and others have tried to paint. But despite any number of ignorant comments, El-Abour says he’s grateful for who he is and proud of what he’s achieved so far in his life. He says “it’s an honor” that people ask him about his autism and he’s glad he can add to the conversation. “It’s very humbling,” El-Abour says, “to be possibly making an impact. Baseball really gave me something that I enjoy and love doing. It always gives me something to be motivated for and to be better at each day throughout my life. And that’s really good.” More

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      The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’

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      Listen and follow ‘The Daily’Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadioOne day at Wrigley Field in Chicago last May, Paul Skenes was pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, carving out a small piece of baseball history in his second big-league game. He struck out the first seven batters he faced. By the end of the fifth inning, he had increased his strikeout total to 10. More impressive, he hadn’t allowed a hit.Over the past two decades, analysts have identified a treasure trove of competitive advantages for teams willing to question baseball’s established practices.Perhaps the most significant of competitive advantages was hidden in plain sight, at the center of the diamond. Starting pitchers were traditionally taught to conserve strength so they could last deep into games. Throwing 300 innings in a season was once commonplace; in 1969 alone, nine pitchers did it. But at some definable point in each game, the data came to reveal, a relief pitcher becomes a more effective option than the starter, even if that starter is Sandy Koufax or Tom Seaver — or Paul Skenes.There are a lot of ways to listen to “The Daily.” Here’s how.We want to hear from you. Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at thedaily@nytimes.com. Follow Michael Barbaro on X: @mikiebarb. And if you’re interested in advertising with The Daily, write to us at thedaily-ads@nytimes.com.Additional production for The Sunday Read was contributed by Isabella Anderson, Anna Diamond, Frannie Carr Toth, Elena Hecht, Emma Kehlbeck, Tanya Pérez, and Krish Seenivasan. More

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      The Future of Baseball

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      An interview with the M.L.B. commissioner. A new baseball season is underway, and the sport is enjoying a sort of renaissance.Baseball is making more money than it ever has. The addition of a pitch clock has made games quicker and created more action on the field. Attendance and ratings are on the rise.But the sport also faces a possible long-term problem: the widening gap between its haves and have-nots.Baseball’s future, both good and bad, is on display in California.It’s a glorious moment for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the World Series last year and have baseball’s biggest star, Shohei Ohtani. After winning the title, the Dodgers added even more talent to their roster — the team will spend well over $300 million this year on player salaries.A few hundred miles up Interstate 5, in Sacramento, that kind of money feels almost unfathomable. There the Athletics, who left Oakland after 57 years, are playing their home games at a minor-league ballpark as they prepare to move to Las Vegas in three years. The A’s entire payroll is only slightly more than what Ohtani alone is owed each year.Money doesn’t win games. It’s baseball, after all. And the A’s are scrappy. Even if they aren’t as well compensated, they can beat anyone on any given day. But the imbalance of resources, over time, tends to offer richer teams an advantage.For today’s newsletter, The Times spoke with the commissioner of Major League Baseball, Rob Manfred, about the state of the game.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Article on Jackie Robinson’s military career restored to defense department website

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      An article detailing Jackie Robinson’s military career has been restored to the Department of Defense’s website amid a purge of material considered to be related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).Robinson, who Donald Trump last month described as helping “drive our country forward to greatness”, is widely considered a national hero in the US. He broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947 when he suited up for the Brooklyn Dodgers; he went on to be elected to his sport’s Hall of Fame. Robinson also served in the US Army during the second world war. However, on Tuesday night ESPN’S Jeff Passan noted a page detailing Robinson’s army career had been taken down and “dei” added to the URL.On Wednesday, the page had been restored. Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot said that “everyone at the Defense Department loves Jackie Robinson”. He added that the defense department regularly checks for material than may have been removed in error.The initial removal was in step with similar decisions in recent weeks as the Pentagon works on the removal of any webpage it considers to be representative of DEI programs. The Trump administration has made its distaste for DEI clear and has rolled back many DEI programs across the federal government. One Trump executive order sought to end all “mandates, policies, programs, preferences and activities in the federal government” related to “illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility’ (DEIA) programs”.Other pages to have been removed include one focusing on Ira Hayes, a Native American who was one of the marines pictured raising the American flag at Iwo Jima during the second world war. Articles about the Native American code talkers also appeared to have been removed from military websites.Defense department spokesperson Sean Parnell has defended the removals. “I think the president and the secretary have been very clear on this – that anybody that says in the Department of Defense that diversity is our strength is, is frankly, incorrect,” Parnell said.Robinson had a striking military career. After a successful battle to train as an officer, Robinson was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1943 and assigned to a tank regiment. However, in 1944 the driver of an army bus ordered Robinson to sit at the back, a directive Robinson refused. Robinson was court martialed and acquitted, then served as an athletics coach before being honorably discharged in November 1944.The removal of Robinson’s page seems to be at odds with comments by Trump himself, who last month said Robinson’s statue would be added to a garden of national heroes. Trump said at the time that Robinson was one of a number of “Black legends, champions, warriors and patriots who helped drive our country forward to greatness.” More

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      Art Schallock, Oldest Surviving Major Leaguer, Dies at 100

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      A pitcher, he played for the Yankees and the Orioles. When Mickey Mantle was sent to the minors in 1951, Schallock was called up.Art Schallock, the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles left-handed pitcher of the 1950s who had been the oldest living former major leaguer, died on Thursday in Sonoma, Calif. He was 100.His death was confirmed by his family.When the Yankees sent 19-year-old Mickey Mantle to the minors in 1951, they called up Schallock, who was making his major league debut.Pitching for five seasons in the majors, he appeared in 58 regular-season games, 14 of them as a starter.Arthur Lawrence Schallock was born in Mill Valley, Calif., near San Francisco, on April 25, 1924, the fourth child of Arthur and Alice Schallock. His father was a telephone and telegraph lineman.After pitching for high school and semipro teams, he served in the Navy during World War II as a radio operator on an aircraft carrier.The Brooklyn Dodgers signed him in 1946, and he pitched in their minor league system until they traded him to the Yankees in July 1951.Art Schallock in 1955. He spent five years in the major leagues, playing in 58 games.Harry Harris/Associated PressHe was a member of the Yankee teams that defeated the Dodgers in the 1952 and 1953 World Series, though he had only one postseason appearance: In Game 4 of the last of those matchups, he allowed one run in two innings.“I roomed with Yogi Berra and he knew all the hitters on each team,” he once said. “Besides that, I had to run down to the lobby and get his funny books. Every morning.”The Orioles obtained Schallock off waivers in May 1955.He had a career record of 6-7, with an earned run average of 4.02 and 77 strikeoutsSchallock’s family was struck by tragedy one night in March 1973 when a man who was an outpatient at a mental institution invaded the home of his brother Melvin; Melvin’s wife, Ruth; and the couple’s son, Daniel, in Mill Valley, Calif. The man set the house on fire and killed all of them with shotgun blasts.Last April, the Yankees honored Schallock on his birthday when they sent him a team jersey signed by the players.A list of Schallock’s survivors was not immediately available. His wife, Donna, died in 2023.For all his fortitude, Schallock did not set a record for longevity in professional baseball. The pitcher Si Simmons of the Lincoln Giants of the Negro leagues lived to 111, and the Yankee pitcher Red Hoff reached 107. More

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      Al Trautwig, a Mainstay in the TV Booth at Madison Square Garden, Dies at 68

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      The Long Island native covered 16 Olympics, and had cameos in the movie “Cool Runnings” and the TV show “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”Al Trautwig, who brought sports fans along with him to New York’s Canyon of Heroes, champagne-doused locker rooms and the medal podium at the Olympics over a broadcast career that spanned more than three decades, died at his home on Long Island on Sunday. He was 68.His death was confirmed on Monday by his son, Alex Trautwig, who said that the cause was complications from cancer.In the largest U.S. media market, one where no detail is too minute for newspaper back pages and sports talk radio, Mr. Trautwig was a familiar face on New York Rangers and Knicks broadcasts for a generation on MSG Networks. He also covered Yankees games before the team created its own cable network in 2002.Al Trautwig, right, after the Yankees won the 2000 World Series.Steve Crandall/Getty ImagesThe son of Long Island had a wider audience: he covered 16 Olympics, most recently for NBC and focusing on gymnastics. His work earned him four national Emmys and more than 30 New York Emmys, his son said. He was also named New York Sportscaster of the Year in 2000.Mr. Trautwig’s death was announced earlier on Monday by Alan Hahn, an ESPN Radio host and a studio analyst for MSG Networks, who described him in a social media post as a mentor and teacher.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Exploring the Failures in the Mideast

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      More from our inbox:Disgusted by Trump’s Lewd Comments at RallyLessons From BaseballQueen Esther’s Legacy Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesTo the Editor:Re “Biden’s Moral Failure on Israel,” by Peter Beinart (Opinion guest essay, Oct. 11):There is much about Israel’s behavior toward Arabs to be condemned, but the horrors of Oct. 7, 2023, cannot be ignored. Israel had a right to retaliate, and the fact that Hamas refuses to stop fighting gives Israel the right to continue fighting.Hamas could have just stopped sending missiles toward Israel but it has not. Hamas killed 1,200 people on Oct. 7. The nightmare of Gaza was started by Hamas and can be finished by Hamas.The nightmare of the West Bank is another story, and there is much blame to be placed on Israel. Until the Israeli government is changed there will be no solution.The politics of the United States is in the middle of this problem, and there is no easy way to deal with it. I believe that if Kamala Harris wins she will be able to be more forceful with the Israelis, but unfortunately, she will have no ability to force Hamas to come to the table.President Biden has not been able to take Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, out of the picture. Only the Israelis can do that, and perhaps once our election is over, they might be able to effect a solution.Leonard ZivitzFullerton, Calif.To the Editor:I am so grateful to Peter Beinart for calling out President Biden’s failure to stand in the way of the sprawling, ethnocentric ambitions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      I Write My Obituary, So I Can Live a Better Life

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      More from our inbox:Trump and BaseballThe G.O.P. Mirage MachineGerald Ford Wasn’t a KlutzUnforeseen Crises Tomi UmTo the Editor:Re “Why I Write My Obituary Every Year,” by Kelly McMasters (Opinion guest essay, Sept. 29):I felt so connected to Ms. McMasters’s essay. Like her, I started this ritual when I was a child. Back then, my obituary was full of playful dreams, but as I grew older, it became a way to set goals that felt within reach.Writing my own obituary has helped me stay true to myself. When life gets overwhelming, I sometimes forget what’s truly important to me.Recently, while unpacking old boxes before a move, I stumbled upon a journal from my childhood. In it, I’d written about a small dream to start a charity once I got older and had my own money.I’d forgotten about it and focused only on fulfilling my own desires. But seeing it again reminded me of the pure dreams I once had and how much I’d lost sight of that part of myself.Inspired by my little note, I now try my best to be more mindful in my life. While Ms. McMasters’s mom used this as a reflection to face death, for me, it’s about staying true to the person I want to be.This essay reminds me that this practice celebrates life.Gracia ManuellaQueensTo the Editor:For my entire professional life, I both wrote and edited others’ obituaries. For that reason and more, I’ve also been the go-to for family and friends who have drafted me to write obituaries and eulogies for their loved ones … and even their own ahead of time!We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More