All-time hits leader Pete Rose may admit to betting on baseball in new book

[Brian]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1699418


With publication of his new book, Pete Rose may be changing his story, admitting publicly for the first time what he's been denying for 14 years, that he bet on baseball.


The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing a "person privy to some of the contents" of "My Prison Without Bars," reports in its Saturday edition that Rose confesses in the book, which has been embargoed until its official publication date Thursday.


Citing a major league official, the New York Times reported Wednesday that Rose, in fact, told commissioner Bud Selig on Nov. 25, 2002, that he had bet on baseball. On Friday, in an op-ed article in the Times, former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent, writing about the book, notes that "word is" Rose admits to betting on baseball, but that he "confronts his past with very little remorse."


It is believed that Rose will have to both admit to gambling on baseball and apologize for his actions for Selig to reinstate him into good standing, thus making him eligible for election to the Hall of Fame.


As ESPN.com columnist Rob Neyer speculated on Dec. 17, and as the Inquirer and Times have noted in their recent articles and columns, such a mea culpa by Rose in his book would come two days after the new Hall of Fame class is announced and could be the start of Rose's campaign for redemption and induction.


According to the Inquirer, Rodale Press, which is publishing the book, declined Friday to comment on the contents of the book.


Rose was banned from baseball for life in 1989 by commissioner Bart Giamatti after being investigated for gambling while managing the Cincinnati Reds. Rose was declared ineligible for the Hall of Fame in 1991.


In the agreement between Giamatti and Rose suspending Rose, baseball did not formally conclude that Rose was guilty of gambling on the sport but Giamatti stated that he personally believed that Rose had bet on baseball.


Giamatti had before him the findings of independent investigator John Dowd, who detailed 412 baseball wagers that he said Rose made between April 8 and July 5, 1987, while managing the Reds, including 52 bets on Cincinnati to win.


Rose applied to Selig for reinstatement in 1997 and Selig began reviewing the appeal in earnest after the November 2002 meeting during which Rose is said to have confessed.


Selig declined to comment to the Inquirer Friday on the latest developments, reiterating that Rose has the right to appeal his lifetime ban and that he, the commissioner, is reviewing the case. Such a review would undoubtedly include the contents of the new book -- whether there's a confession and, if a confession, whether there's an apology.


As for the Hall of Fame, a player has a 15-year period starting five years after his retirement during which he is eligible for election by the baseball writers. If Rose is reinstated, his final year of eligibility on the ballot would be in December 2005. After that, his possible selection would pass to the veterans committee, which includes all living Hall of Famers, some of whom are adamantly opposed to his induction.


The first printing of the book, priced at $24.95, is huge at 500,000 copies. With those numbers, Rodale Press obviously expects Rose's book to make a big splash, and, according to the Inquirer's source, baseball's all-time hit leader has delivered.

[dlemond]

Pete Rose was a great major league ballplayer.

And he is also a great major league A-hole.

Guess the bank account had a nice talk with the lying facade and came to an arrangement.

[Pavan]

PRIMETIME THURSDAY
- In an exclusive interview, ABC News' Charles Gibson talks with baseball legend and all-time hits leader Pete Rose about his controversial past and his chances for reinstatement by Major League Baseball, on PRIMETIME THURSDAY on JAN. 8 (10-11 pm, ET) on the ABC Television Network. Pete Rose will also appear live the next morning, FRIDAY, JAN. 9 on GOOD MORNING AMERICA (7-9 am, ET).

[Brian]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp.../bbn_rose_book


NEW YORK - After 14 years of denials, Pete Rose has finally come clean and admitted he bet on baseball while manager of the Cincinnati Reds (news).


The career hits leader says in his soon-to-be-released autobiography that he hopes the acknowledgment will help end his ban from baseball, which could lead to his induction into the Hall of Fame.


Rose says he was a big-time gambler who started betting regularly on baseball in 1987 but never against the Reds, according to excerpts from the book released to Sports Illustrated for its issue that hits newsstands Wednesday.


"Yes, sir, I did bet on baseball," Rose told commissioner Bud Selig during a meeting in November 2002 about Rose's lifetime ban.


"How often?" Selig asked.


"Four or five times a week," Rose replied. "But I never bet against my own team, and I never made any bets from the clubhouse."


"Why?" Selig asked.


"I didn't think I'd get caught."


Rose repeated his admission in an interview on ABC News' "Primetime Thursday," parts of which aired Monday on "Good Morning America."


"It's time to clean the slate, it's time to take responsibility," Rose says in the interview. "I'm 14 years late.


"I just never had the opportunity to tell anybody that was going to help me. ... I couldn't get a response from baseball for 12 years. It's like I died and, and they knew I died and they didn't want to bring me back. They were just going to let me rot."


In "My Prison Without Bars," to be released Thursday, Rose writes that he regrets lying for all those years and says, "I wish I could take it all back."


"I've consistently heard the statement: 'If Pete Rose came clean, all would be forgiven.' Well, I've done what you've asked. The rest is up to the commissioner and the big umpire in the sky."


Rose agreed to the lifetime ban in August 1989 and applied for reinstatement in 1997, but Selig hasn't ruled on the request.


After meeting with Selig, Rose came away thinking he would be reinstated "within a reasonable period." Other baseball officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the following month that Selig wanted Rose to admit he bet on baseball as part of any reinstatement agreement.


"We haven't seen the book. Until we read the book, there's nothing to comment on," Selig told The Associated Press on Sunday night.


As long as Rose is banned from baseball, he is ineligible for the Hall of Fame ballot. His last chance to appear on the writers' ballot is December 2005. After that, if he's reinstated, he could be voted in by the veterans' committee.





"The application remains pending, and the commissioner will take all of this into account," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said Monday.

Rose wrote that if he "had been an alcoholic or a drug addict, baseball would have suspended me for six weeks and paid for my rehabilitation."

"I should have had the opportunity to get help, but baseball had no fancy rehab for gamblers like they do for drug addicts," Rose wrote. "If I had admitted my guilt, it would have been the same as putting my head on the chopping block — lifetime ban. Death penalty. I spent my entire life on the baseball fields of America, and I was not going to give up my profession without first seeing some hard evidence. ... Right or wrong, the punishment didn't fit the crime — so I denied the crime."

In the book, Rose admits placing bets with Ronald Peters through Thomas Gioiosa and Paul Janszen — the three were the primary witnesses in the 1989 investigation by baseball lawyer John Dowd that led to the agreement in which Rose accepted a lifetime ban.

Dowd concluded Rose bet on baseball from 1985-87 and detailed 412 baseball wagers between April 8-July 5, 1987, including 52 on Cincinnati to win.

"During the times I gambled as a manager, 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."

Former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent said Sunday: "I think John Dowd is owed a big apology by Rose.

"John is the hero. He did a great job. Now Rose admits John was correct," Vincent said.

In his 1989 autobiography, "Pete Rose: My Story," Rose denied gambling. That book was written with Roger Kahn.

"I feel he has embarrassed me," Kahn said Monday. "I must have asked Pete 20 times, `Did you bet on baseball?' He would look at me, blink his eyes and say, `I didn't bet baseball. I have too much respect for the game.' "

Rose wrote that after breaking Ty Cobb's career hits record in 1985, and as he dealt with retirement as a player the following year, his betting became more of a problem. He details losing several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"I didn't realize it at the time, but I was pushing toward disaster," he wrote. "A part of me was still looking for ways to recapture the high I got from winning batting titles and World Series (news - web sites). If I couldn't get the high from playing baseball, then I needed a substitute to keep from feeling depressed. I was driven, in gambling as well as in baseball. Enough was never enough. I had huge appetites, and I was always hungry."

Asked during the ABC News interview what fans think about him, Rose said: "I think the powers that be in baseball understand that, 'Hey, maybe the fans like this guy. Maybe the fans want, want us to give him a second chance.'"

[EricIdlefan]

Well, why is he banned(which gambling doesn't compare to any other very, very, seriously, heinous crime) while there are rapists, drug sellers, and/or murderes that REALLY SHOULD BE THE ONES BANNED FROM ANY OTHER SPORTS other than Baseball??(size 3 text)

[Pedantic]

Originally posted by EricIdlefan
Well, why is he banned(which gambling doesn't compare to any other very, very, seriously, heinous crime) while there are rapists, drug sellers, and/or murderes that REALLY SHOULD BE THE ONES BANNED FROM ANY OTHER SPORTS other than Baseball??(size 3 text)

That's because those people are bad people and aren't good for baseball, but they don't harm the integrity of the game. What Rose did did that, and I don't think he realizes that yet. Besides, if we let him back in, what about Shoeless Joe?

[EricIdlefan]

At least he got the monkey off his nearly fifteen years of bold face lying off his back!!

[Getalifeboy]

That's because those people are bad people and aren't good for baseball, but they don't harm the integrity of the game. What Rose did did that, and I don't think he realizes that yet. Besides, if we let him back in, what about Shoeless Joe?

Exactly. the 1919 Black Sox scandal almost destroyed baseball forever..If any sport is exposed as "fixed" it would lose all credibility and would be gone.. If it were not for "Babe Ruth" baseball might not be around today..

Pete may have never attacked or raped anybody..But he BET ON BASEBALL and is MADE A EXAMPLE of. Every locker room in the country says "Bet on baseball you will be banned for life" Rose saw this every day as a major leager and STILL bet on baseball.

Plus he bet on his OWN TEAM....WHich is really bad..Inside information that way.

They can put Rose in the Hall of Fame but not let him in baseball again...But on the monument it can say all his accomplisment and at the bottom it should say "And He bet on Baseball"

[musicradio77]

I saw Pete Rose on "I Love the 80's Strikes Back: 1989" at one time about betting on baseball. I love that part.

[EricIdlefan]

They should put Pete in the Hall of Fame but not in baseball. He has been living in denial that he bet on the sport though he did admittingly bet on other sports but bet against his team is just so, so, awful!!