MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred meets with President Donald Trump at White House

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred met this week at the White House with President Donald Trump.

“President Trump is a longtime fan of baseball,” MLB said in a statement Thursday. “As he has done in the past, Commissioner Manfred was pleased to visit the White House again to discuss issues pertaining to baseball with the president.”

The meeting took place Wednesday and was first reported by The Washington Post.

Jeffrey Lenkov, a Southern California lawyer who represented Pete Rose prior to his death at age 83, filed a petition on Jan. 8 to reinstate Rose from baseball’s permanent ineligible list. Rose agreed to go on the list in 1989 following 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.

People on the permanent ineligible list are not eligible for election for baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Manfred in 2015 rejected a previous petition for reinstatement by Rose.

Trump said in February he intends to pardon Rose, who pleaded guilty in 1990 to two counts of filing false tax returns and served a five-month prison sentence.

A 17-time All-Star, Rose is the career leader with 4,256 hits. He also holds the major league record for games played (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890). He was the 1973 National League MVP and played on three World Series winners.