The ''Dowd Report'' is the

document A document is a writing, written, drawing, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of nonfiction, non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ', which denotes ...

describing the transgressions of baseball player and manager

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (April 14, 1941 – September 30, 2024), nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of ...

betting Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, which precipitated his agreement to a permanent ban from the sport in the

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. The 225-page report was prepared by Special Counsel to the Commissioner John M. Dowd and was submitted to

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

Bart Giamatti in May 1989. The report, published in June 1989, was accompanied by seven volumes of exhibits, which included bank and telephone records, alleged betting records, expert reports, and transcripts of interviews with Rose and other witnesses. Rose was ultimately placed on baseball's ineligible list in August 1989. The most controversial conclusion of the report, that Rose had bet on baseball games while managing the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

, was confirmed 15 years later by Rose himself through his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

'' My Prison Without Bars''. Dowd later donated the Dowd Report collections to his alma mater,

Emory University School of Law Emory University School of Law is the law school of Emory University, a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1916 and was the first law school in Georgia to be granted membership in the American Association of Law ...

, in 2015. On May 13, 2025—seven months after Rose died—MLB officially removed him (and all other dead baseball players) from the permanently ineligible list, restoring his eligibility to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Dowd Report
in

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

Sean Lahman's Pete Rose FAQ
- links to related content about the Dowd Report
"Evaluating the Dowd Report"
at Baseball Prospectus
The Dowd Report-Pete Rose’s Ban from Baseball: 25 Years Later
from

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Cincinnati Reds History of Major League Baseball Major League Baseball controversies Sports betting scandals 1989 Major League Baseball season {{baseball-stub