Pete Rose: 'I just don't understand' Donaldson leaving game

Hit King and former Big Red Machine star Pete Rose is catching flak for remarks he made in his role as analyst for Fox Sports One about Blue Jays star Josh Donaldson leaving his team's ALDS Game 1 loss after taking a knee to the helmet while sliding into second base.

Here's what Rose said, per Yahoo's @bigleaguestew :

Of course, the difference today is what we know about head injuries that we didn't know then. And it likely wasn't even Donaldson's decision to leave the game - with the concussion protocol.

Rose met with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred last month to discuss Rose's application for reinstatement. According to a statement from MLB, Manfred will make his decision by the end of the year.

Rose was banned from baseball for life by previous Commissioner Bart Giamatti in the summer of 1989 after investigator John Dowd's report showed that Rose had bet on baseball while managing the Reds. Rose also visited during the summer and reminisced with The Enquirer's Paul Daugherty about the neighborhood where he grew up.