After almost as many denials as career hits, Pete Rose has finally admitted he bet on baseball games while managing the Cincinnati Reds.
Rose, who was placed on baseball’s permanently ineligible list by the late Commissioner Bart Giamatti in 1989, had repeatedly denied that he bet on the sport he played with such passion that he earned the nickname “Charlie Hustle.”
“It’s time to clean the slate; it’s time to take responsibility,” Rose said in an interview with ABC News scheduled to air on Thursday’s “20/20” program. “I’m 14 years late.”
Rose, 62, recanted in a joint effort to promote his book “My Prison Without Bars” and a chance to earn reinstatement from Commissioner Bud Selig. Major League Baseball did not have a formal response to Rose’s admission.
Rose exercised his right to appeal for reinstatement in 1997 but did not get an audience with Selig until November 2002.
When Selig did meet with Rose, he told him he would not be reinstated without making a public admission of his guilt, according to sources. It took Rose 14 months to erase that from his to-do list.
“I bet on baseball in 1987 and 1988,” Rose said. “That was my mistake, not coming clean a lot earlier.”
During his 1989 investigation, baseball lawyer John Dowd found that Rose bet on baseball from 1985 through ’87, including 412 specific wagers in the first half of the ’87 season. Fifty-two of those were on Cincinnati to win.
In the book, Rose admits that he bet on games involving the Reds while he managed them but denied ever doing anything to influence the outcome of a game because he had bet on it.
“I never took an unfair advantage,” Rose wrote. “I never bet more or less based on injuries or inside information. I never allowed my wagers to influence my baseball decisions. So in my mind, I wasn’t corrupt.”
Giamatti died of a heart attack one week after reaching the decision to ban Rose, which remains one of baseball’s darkest days. Rose reacted angrily when Giamatti asserted his belief that Rose had bet on baseball at the news conference announcing the banishment.
Rose’s playing credentials are Hall of Fame-caliber. He is baseball’s career hits leader with 4,256. He retired with a .303 career batting average, won Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player Awards and three batting titles, and was selected for 17 All-Star Games at five positions.
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Edited by Michael Kellams (mkellams@tribune.com)
