Clark wants Pete Rose reinstated

LAKELAND, Fla. -- It isn't his call, but Tony Clark, the executive director of baseball's players' union, said Tuesday he would be in favor of commissioner Rob Manfred reinstating Pete Rose.

"I would love to see Pete reinstated," Clark said, after meeting with players for the Detroit Tigers during his annual tour of spring training.

Asked to explain his reasoning, Clark said of Rose: "He made a decision. He made a decision that was not the right decision. He made a decision that he has paid a price for."

Clark chose his words carefully, but when he was asked whether he believes that Rose has served his time, he replied succinctly: "Yes. I would love for there to be a consideration made, on behalf of the commissioner's office, that would take that into account, in reinstating him."

He was then asked whether he would be in favor of full reinstatement. Clark thought about the question for several seconds, then said, simply: "Reinstatement."

Manfred said Monday that Rose has formally reapplied to have his lifetime ban lifted. That decision would be Manfred's, so the Major League Baseball Players Association would have no jurisdiction in the matter and likely would not even be asked for its input. However, Clark said, the matter still requires the union to monitor it.

"It does," he said, "from the standpoint of Pete being one of the fraternity, Pete having found himself in the situation that he has for the length of time that he has. To the extent that we don't have any input necessarily into whether he's reinstated or not. But it is something that, as a past member of the players' association, we obviously pay attention to."