Major League Baseball began investigating Pete Rose in 1988, the year before it launched the full-blown, publicly announced probe that resulted in his banishment, according to newly released FBI documents. MLB, however, suspended its investigation at the request of federal law enforcement officials who were investigating Rose's finances at the time.

The documents show that MLB suspected in 1988, months before the public became aware of any investigation, that Rose was betting on baseball and was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. MLB did not respond to an ESPN request for comment.

In February 1989, MLB hired John Dowd, a former federal prosecutor, to lead its investigation of Rose. The resulting Dowd Report led to Rose's lifetime ban that August for betting on MLB games, including

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