It was more than 100 years ago that Shoeless Joe Jackson was among eight Black Sox banned from baseball for throwing the 1919 World Series. It’s been more than 35 years since Pete Rose suffered the same fate after betting on the sport as a player and manager of the Cincinnati Reds in the mid-1980s.

The all-time hit king and Jackson -- both longtime baseball pariahs stained by gambling, seen by MLB as the game's mortal sin -- are now presumably eligible for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Pete Rose, who was banished from Major League Baseball for gambling on the game, has been removed from the league's permanently ineligible list and could be a contender for the Hall of Fame, MLB announced Tuesday.