WILL HE or won’t he?

Just as baseball season rolls around every year, there also are inevitable discussions about Pete Rose and the Baseball Hall of Fame whenever he files for reinstatement to baseball.

He agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989 after an investigation revealed he bet on the Cincinnati Reds while managing the team. That ban included a chance to apply for reinstatement, but that was dissolved in 1991 by the HofF’s board.

Rose applied for reinstatement in 1997, but that application never received a ruling. Now, the 74-year-old former player/manager is trying again.

Possibly, he thinks being a Fox Sports studio analyst might help his cause.

Rose has been selling signed memorabilia in a Las Vegas mall, but that probably wouldn’t impress HofF officials, especially with the millions he earned in baseball.

THE FORMER player/manager had 4,256 hits, but off the field, his errors mounted up.

For 15 years, Rose denied that he ever bet on baseball. Then, he revealed in his 2004 autobiography that he bet on the Reds while managing the team.

In 1990, he was sentenced to five months in prison and fined for tax evasion.

IT SOMETIMES takes years for admission to the hall at Cooperstown.

For example, the late Cal Pokas, former sports editor of The Times Leader, bemoaned the fact for years that Bill Mazeroski wasn’t being admitted. Mazeroski, the only player in Major League Baseball history to hit a game-winning home run in Game 7 of the World Series, holds numerous Major League records. In 2001, he was finally admitted to the HofF.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, who retired his number in 1987, also honored him with a statue at PNC Park in 2010.

ROSE, who has broken many records and earned honors including the naming of Pete Rose Way in Cincinnati, also has broken a lot of rules.

Others involved in America’s pastime haven’t always been upstanding, but his mistakes are somewhat different. Rose’s record on rule-breaking, his lies and his arrogance aren’t a good example for youngsters who admire athletes.

He’s even capitalizing on his misdeed. An autographed baseball with the words, “I’m sorry I bet on baseball,” is available online for $149.95.

Rose’s past shows he has surpassed the “three strikes and you’re out” ruling.