CINCINNATI — Pete Rose was celebrated by the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night, a day after baseball’s career hits leader was posthumously removed from Major League Baseball’s permanent ineligibility list.
There were chants of “Pete! Pete!” at Great American Ball Park. There was a pregame moment of silence, and a choir from Rose’s Cincinnati high school performed the national anthem. And No. 14 was everywhere, from the replica jerseys in the stands to the highlights shown on the videoboard.
It was the type of all-out effort Rose would have appreciated.
“This city was my dad,” Rose’s daughter, Fawn, said.
The team had announced its plan to celebrate Rose in the wake of his death last fall.
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Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin and Eric Davis, who played for Rose when he managed the Reds, shared stories about their former manager during a pregame panel, joined by former Rose teammate George Foster. Members of Rose’s family delivered the game ball before Cincinnati’s 4-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
“He played baseball with as much passion and competitive enjoyment as you ever could,” said Reds manager Terry Francona, who played with Rose in Montreal and played for him in Cincinnati. “You wanted to be on his team.”
Rose, who died in September at age 83, played for the Reds in 19 of his 24 seasons, winning two of his three World Series championships with his hometown team. His career was tarnished by a gambling scandal that led to a permanent ban on Aug. 23, 1989.
An investigation commissioned by Major League Baseball concluded that Rose, a 17-time All-Star who finished with 4,256 hits, repeatedly bet on the Reds as a player and manager of the team from 1985 to 1987, a violation of a long-standing MLB rule.
Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday he was changing the league’s policy on permanent ineligibility, saying bans would expire at death. Manfred met with Fawn Rose and Jeffrey Lenkov, a lawyer who represented Pete Rose, on Dec. 17.
Manfred “was gracious, kind,” Fawn Rose said. “Really gave me a forum to talk about my dad, not the baseball player, but the father, the grandfather and really what he means to the [fans] of Cincinnati.”
Pete Rose Jr., who appeared in 11 games with Cincinnati in 1997, said he was angry when he first heard about Manfred’s decision because he couldn’t call his father. But he called the change a step in the right direction.
“Hate to say this, but it’s not going to bring him back,” he said. “If they would have said you’re not going to be taken off the list, but you’re coming back, hey bring him back. But nothing but positives today.”
Though Rose’s gambling ban made him a baseball pariah, that was never the case in a city that proudly embraces its status as the home of the oldest major league team. He was almost uniformly beloved in his hometown for his relentless playing style and his connection to the Big Red Machine — the dominant Reds teams in the mid-1970s.
“My dad used to tell me all the stories of how hard he played every time,” said Reds reliever Brent Suter, a Cincinnati native. “You know, never took a play off, always was running hard 90 [feet], sliding headfirst, you know, getting dirty every game. … This was a guy who just embodied toughness, grit.”
There were long lines at several gates as the crowd of 43,585 filed into the ballpark. A steady stream of fans stopped in front of Rose’s statue for pictures before going inside the stadium.
There was a black tarp with the No. 14 over the pitcher’s mound as the players took batting practice.
“I remember his hustle. The headfirst slides. He was a person with not a lot of talent, but he worked so hard,” said Bob Wunder, 65, of Dayton, Ohio.
Wunder expressed his frustration with the timing of Manfred’s decision.
“It’s awful. They should have done it when he was alive,” he said. “If I was the [Rose] family, I would say, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’ I’m upset that it had to wait until he passed away.”
The change in Rose’s status makes him eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame — long a sore spot for Rose’s most ardent supporters — but his Cooperstown induction is far from a given.
Rose’s case would be considered by the Hall’s Classic Baseball Era committee, which next meets to consider players in December 2027. A 10-person panel selects eight ballot candidates with the approval of the Hall’s board, and the group is considered by 16 members at the winter meetings, with a 75% or higher vote needed.
“I know I oversimplify things. But what Pete did as a player, if he’s not in, there is no Hall of Fame,” Francona said. “But I get it. There are some things that … I’m glad I don’t have to make [those] decisions.”
Jerry Casebolt, 80, of Florence, Kentucky, stopped to have his photo taken in front of the Rose statue before the game. He said he was at the 1970 All-Star Game when Rose bowled over Ray Fosse in a memorable play at the plate, and he also attended the game when Rose broke Ty Cobb’s record for career hits.
The removal of Rose from the ineligible list was meaningful for him.
“It was great to hear the news,” he said. “Just opening up the gates [to the Hall of Fame], but it’s still questionable. Hope he gets in. Shame he didn’t get to see it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
