Rose admits betting on baseball
The bloom is finally off the rose â Pete Rose.
Rose, 62, finally admitted betting on baseball while managing the Cincinnati Reds, 14 years after being banned for the indiscretion.
But baseball's all-time hits leader denied ever betting on his beloved Reds.
"During the times I gambled as a manager, I never took an unfair advantage," Rose wrote in his new autobiography, "My Prison Without Bars."
"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."
Rose's first public admission was made to Charles Gibson of ABC News during a televised interview promoting the book, which is due out Thursday.
Asked directly by Gibson if he bet on baseball, Rose paused, took a breath and responded: "Yes, I did. And that was my mistake for not coming clean earlier."
"It's time to clean the slate, it's time to take responsibility," Rose continued. "I'm 14 years late."
Despite repeated denials, Rose hopes the acknowledgment will result in his reinstatement and subsequent induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
"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."
Rose was banned from baseball for life by then-commissioner A. Bartlett Giammati on Aug. 24, 1989.
He steadfastly maintained he never bet on baseball while playing or managing and signed a document refusing to admit guilt, but with the proviso he could apply for reinstatement within one year.
Rose officially applied for reinstatement to current commissioner Allan (Bud) Selig in September 1997.
"The application remains pending," MLB executive Bob DuPuy said Monday.
"And the commissioner will take all of this into account."
Rose officially applied to Selig for reinstatement in September 1997.
"There's no sense of regret, no sense of shame, no sense of the damage he did to baseball," noted Fay Vincent, Selig's predecessor.
"I guess I'm really disgusted. I think the whole thing is a sordid, miserable story.
"It's sort of like turning over a stone. You see a lot of maggots and it's not very pretty."
Rose hit .303 with 160 home runs, 1,314 runs batted in and 2,165 runs scored in 3,562 games over 24 MLB seasons with the Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos before retiring in 1986, at which time he continued to manage the Reds through 1988.
Nicknamed "Charlie Hustle," the three-time World Series winner was named National League Rookie of the Year in 1963 and World Series Most Valuable Player in 1975.
On Sept. 11, 1985, Rose eclipsed Ty Cobb's career record of 4,191 hits and remains baseball's all-time hits leader with 4,256.
"I know what you're thinking," Rose penned in an excerpt to be published this week in Sports Illustrated.
"If we let you back into baseball, Pete, what's to stop you from gambling again? Listen, there hasn't been a day in my life when I didn't regret making those bets.
"I wish I could take it all back, but I can't. What's done is done.
"I'm sure that I'm supposed to act all sorry or sad or guilty now that I've accepted that I've done something wrong. But you see, I'm just not built that way.
"So let's leave it like this: I'm sorry it happened and I'm sorry for all the people, fans and family that it hurt. Let's move on.
"For the last 14 years, 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."
with files from Sports Network