CINCINNATI — They were lined up five or six deep in the ballpark’s center concourse, just below the tall chimneys, in the afternoon sun. A crowd had gathered hours before the All-Star Game at Great American Ball Park, everyone leaning and staring past the lights, cameras and makeshift TV where three powdered men stared at the blue cards and muttered to them -themselves. Two middle-aged men wearing old-school V-necks Reds the sweaters stopped abruptly.
“Hey, is that…?” »
Pete Rose is 74 years old now. His famous mop is now a sparse stripe colored an impossible shade of brown, his face sagging and jowling. The bright lights here are not kind.
“He was the best hitter? » a young boy in a Todd Frazier » asked the t-shirt as he watched.
“He East the best hitter,” his father replied.
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Moments later, with an hour left to broadcast, Rose stood up from the desk and the gathered crowd began singing loudly. “LET PETE IN!” LET PETE IN! » The legend didn’t even look up as he disappeared into a media workroom with tinted windows.
There was a game Tuesday night in Cincinnati. The American League, powered by Mike Trout and an all-world bullpen, won the 2015 All-Star Game with a quiet 6–3 victory. The expo capped a week that was a great tribute to Cincinnati baseball, with fans coloring the stadium red for two lively nights as a reminder that this is a great baseball city. The week “put (Cincinnati) back on the map, to be honest with you,” hometown hero Frazier said after the game.
But all week, a man, long exiled from the game, dominated the debates. Rose made the news not only because his reinstatement case is being re-examined by Major League Baseball, not only because he was an analyst for Fox, but also because he was voted in by the fans as a member of franchise four of the Reds, reason for the invitation to a pre-match ceremony with the other three members. Rose was back in the city where he was born, raised and became rich and famous, and his return in front of the home crowd was the most anticipated moment of All-Star week.
“I told the guys to be ready when Pete Rose is announced,” Frazier said. “You may not be able to hear yourself applaud.”
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He emerged from the third base dugout, raised his arm, waved and headed toward the mound, following Johnny Bench, Barry Larkin and Joe Morgan. It was the longest ovation of the night, and for many fans, especially diehards, it will be the most memorable moment of this year’s All-Star Game. This may also be the last time Rose is officially recognized by Major League Baseball.
Outside of Cincinnati, of course, Rose’s position is much more complicated, and what has become clear over the past few weeks and months, with each new revelation, is that Rose will likely remain an outsider forever. For those clinging to the hope of redemption and reintegration, Tuesday night’s moment — it felt like a homecoming, a thank you from the fans and maybe even a farewell — will likely be the end of the book of Rose stories.
Before the weekend, he performed a traveling one-man show, drawing crowds wherever he went. Last Thursday, he was in the central Illinois town of Normal to sign baseballs for $50 apiece. The next day, in O’Fallon, Missouri, near St. Louis, he signed more baseballs. On Saturday, he sat on a stage to tell stories like Elaine Stritch at the Taft Theater in downtown Cincinnati; it was called “An Evening with Pete Rose,” for one night only (VIP tickets included a meet and greet and cost $125). He started the evening by recounting how his father, Harry Rose, had taken him to the racecourse and joked that that was where “it all started”.
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But especially in Cincinnati, Rose remained discreet, even though his presence was felt at every event. On Monday during media day, it seemed like every poor player was asked about the legend. “He did a lot of great things for baseball; the past is the past,” Frazier said. During Monday’s All-Star press conference, National League manager Bruce Bochy was asked about Rose’s participation in the pregame ceremony. “I know Pete. I grew up being a Reds fan, to be honest. I was a big fan of the Big Red Machine and I was here in Cincinnati and I know how popular Pete is here. He is part of the history of Cincinnati, of the Reds.
On Monday at his city hall, Commissioner Rob Manfred was asked about Rose as a national. “There’s no question that the vast majority of the mail I get is from people who live in Cincinnati or were originally from Cincinnati, big Pete Rose fans,” the commissioner said. “It’s a subject that interests people. And this is an issue that we will address in the future. Even Snoop Dogg, at the celebrity softball game, rang. “I grew up loving Pete Rose,” Snoop said.
In Cincinnati, there’s nothing but love for Charlie Hustle, that much is now clear. There has been little to cheer about this summer in the Queen City, with the Reds floundering in fourth place in their division and heading toward a possible sale at the trade deadline. Monday night belonged to Frazier, the hometown hero who turned into the Home Run Derby into a lively and heartwarming spectacle for the hometown faithful. Tuesday, for many Reds fans, was about Rose. The faithful headed to the stadium along Pete Rose Way, dressed in FREE PETE red! t-shirts and handmade signs that read SET PETE FREE. They snuck into the Reds Hall of Fame and lingered in front of the glass case near the entrance displaying the jersey Rose used in the game on Sept. 11, 1985, the night he became the hit king. They took photos in the rose garden outside the ballpark, marking the spot where his record-breaking hit landed, in the old Riverfront Stadium.
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With the events of the week, it may seem like Rose is getting closer to forgiveness and redemption, but if this week has made anything clear, it’s that in many ways, he’s never been further from none of these things. There was never a meeting this week between Rose and Manfred, who said earlier this year that he would listen to Rose’s appeal. That meeting will take place, as Manfred said Tuesday at the Baseball Writers’ Association of America luncheon: “I remain committed to the idea that Mr. Rose deserves the opportunity to tell me, in whatever format suits him the best, what he wants from me. be aware of the problem” — although Rose’s chances of reinstatement are slim in light of ESPN’s recent damning revelations that Rose bet on matches as a Reds player.
Baseball’s ongoing scandal has lasted more than 25 years and is not going away anytime soon. Late Tuesday night, Rose was back in the analyst chair for Fox’s postgame broadcast. A small crowd watched as it approached midnight in Cincinnati, and as they signed, the crowd started up again with chants of “LET PETE IN!” » Tuesday was a remarkable evening, but in the end, nothing changed in the Rose saga.
This week, he returns to his life in Vegas, to his life behind the booths and tables and shuttling between meets. According to PeteRose.com, Thursday at noon at Mandalay Place on the Strip, Pete Rose is available for autographs.
