 01/05/2004 3:32 PM ET
Rose's admission raises questions
Cincinnati community ponders effects on HOF issue
• Rose admits he bet on baseball
CINCINNATI -- Two of Pete Rose's Big Red Machine teammates expressed hope Monday that the all-time hits leader's admission of betting on baseball games will hasten his entrance into the Hall of Fame.
Rose, Cincinnati's favorite baseball son, confessed in his autobiography to be released later this week that he bet on games while managing the Reds. He also discussed his baseball wagers in an interview on ABC News' "Primetime Thursday," parts of which aired Monday on "Good Morning America."
Former first baseman Tony Perez called Rose's remarks "a relief ... I'm glad he did it."
Added Perez, a 2000 Hall of Fame inductee: "I'm 100 percent behind him. I hope everything gets cleared up. Maybe everybody's satisfied; let's get this thing going. I hope he gets to the Hall of Fame where he belongs."
Asked if he was surprised by Rose's statements, which contradicted 14 years of denials of baseball betting, Perez said, "Not really. I know a lot of people have been asking him that for a long time. I'm just glad he [admitted betting] and everything's going to go all right now."
Former right fielder Ken Griffey Sr. also reiterated his support for Rose's Hall candidacy.
Speaking through his agent, Brian Goldberg, Griffey said: "It's unfortunate that Pete has done these things and taken so long to own up to them, but nobody should forget all of his accomplishments as a player, and that he was just about the fiercest competitor between the white lines I've ever seen."
That's how most Reds fans will remember Rose, a Cincinnati native. He remains a revered figure in the city, where the townspeople's collective psyche was reeled in August, 1989 as he was banned from baseball following a gambling investigation. Rose, who managed the Reds from the middle of the 1985 season until he was banned, said in his book that he started betting on baseball in 1987.
Shortstop Barry Larkin, whose Reds career began just as Rose's playing days were ending in July 1986, is a native Cincinnatian and, predictably, a Rose admirer. He sounded stunned by his former manager's disclosure.
"Just 'wow.' That's really it," Larkin said when asked for his reaction. "Until I hear the whole story, I don't really like to comment until I know what's going on."
Others wondered whether Rose's admission ultimately would help him enter the Hall of Fame -- first through reinstatement from the Commissioner's office and, second, in the eyes of Baseball Writers Association of America voters -- and, further, whether a change in his status might include eligibility to manage again.
Reds television broadcaster Chris Welsh, who pitched for Cincinnati and Rose in 1986, considered the admission a first step.
"This was an obstacle in the eyes of Major League Baseball," Welsh said. "They were not about to do anything until Pete said, 'You guys were right; I bet on baseball.' Now it opens the door for the sympathy vote for Pete. That's going to be hard to muster after 14 years of being a liar, but it opens the door for Major League Baseball to act."
Cincinnati-based author Greg Rhodes, who has written several books about Reds baseball, expressed hopes that Rose's confession will prompt his admittance into the Hall -- as long as he proves he has reconfigured his life, which has been mentioned as a likely prerequisite to any deal.
"I think that the one caveat to all this is that if Pete is still an active gambler, then he should not be involved in baseball, even if [the gambling is] all done legally," Rhodes said. "He bears a higher standard. That may not be fair, but given all he's been through, that's going to be the reality of it. My guess is they'll try to come up with something that will make him eligible for the Hall of Fame vote but put him on probation of some sort."
Monday's news spread quickly through Cincinnati but hardly stunned the home of professional baseball's oldest franchise. The locals have absorbed plenty of developments regarding Rose's gambling since he was banned from baseball.
"John Dowd's vindicated," said Welsh, referring to the investigator who uncovered evidence of Rose's baseball betting. "His report was pretty thorough. Anybody who read it or took time to look at it should have been convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that [Rose] bet on baseball."
Welsh stopped short of accusing Rose of betting on games.
"I never had any personal interaction with Pete that would lead me to believe that he was betting on baseball in 1986," Welsh said. "I knew he was hanging around some pretty dubious-looking characters, but there's no crime in that."
Marty Brennaman, the Reds' longtime radio announcer, declined to comment on Rose. The Reds' front office also announced through its media relations department that it would not comment on the matter.
Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.
|
|
|
|
News
