• Michael Rothstein

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The new information from the FBI is part of its second release of documents in response to a request by ESPN. The bureau publicly releases some records it maintains on individuals, after their deaths, often with redactions. This heavily redacted batch of documents includes 93 deleted pages, although the majority of those listed were labeled as duplicates.

The government, per a memo in the files, asked MLB to suspend its investigation into Rose on April 13, 1988, due to concern that the “investigation might in some way impede the efforts of law enforcement.” That FBI memo, sent to the FBI’s Cincinnati office, had a subject line naming Ronald Peters, who was one of Rose’s bookmakers. The memo said the FBI didn’t discuss its Rose investigation in detail with an MLB representative it quoted, whose name was redacted.

That MLB representative, a source familiar with the investigation told ESPN this week, was former FBI agent Joe Daly. According to the FBI documents, the man identified by ESPN’s source as Daly spoke with the FBI about MLB’s investigation of Rose on April 12, 1988. The source said MLB was investigating Rose in 1988 for suspected betting on baseball.

Daly told the FBI that Rose was “reputedly $300,000 to $400,000 in debt at this date,” according to the documents.

According to the interview summary, Daly said that at the time, he “had found only one person” who alleged that Rose bet on MLB games.

The government asked MLB to suspend its investigation because the Internal Revenue Service was investigating Rose, the source said, adding that the FBI promised it would introduce MLB to a potentially crucial witness regarding Rose’s gambling. The source said that a few weeks after MLB agreed to suspend its probe, it got the green light to resume its efforts. The FBI followed through, providing the promised witness for MLB’s investigation.

Most of the newly released documents focus on the narcotics and bookmaking operation investigations into Peters during the mid-1980s. Rose’s gambling and financial habits were mentioned throughout the documents, including a reference to the IRS investigation.

The documents reference an FBI interview with Rose in April 1988 about sports memorabilia, specifically the bejeweled Hickok Belt Award that Rose won as professional athlete of the year for 1975. Rose served five months in federal prison after pleading guilty in 1990 to filing false tax returns related to income from his memorabilia sales, gambling and other activities.

Also referenced are organized crime figures in New York, but the documents do not state any link between Rose or Peters and the New York mob.

According to the rules of the Hall of Fame, the earliest consideration of Rose’s candidacy for Cooperstown would be in 2027, when he would be eligible for inclusion on the Classic Era Committee ballot. The 16-person committee is to meet that December and weigh eight candidates’ résumés, integrity, sportsmanship and character.

ESPN’s T.J. Quinn contributed to this report.