Pete Rose Jr. Not Giving Up

Pete Rose Jr. knows what some people think: At age 29, it's time for him to give up on this notion of making it in the big leagues.

Not a chance.

"Everybody is accepting failure, but I'm not," he said emphatically. "I'm not done. I'm a baseball player."

The son of baseball's hits king is coming off one of his most discouraging seasons, one that started in the Cincinnati Reds' farm system and ended with him playing on an independent league team in New Jersey.

That was last year. Spring training is at hand, Rose has a minor-league contract and the hope has been renewed. The Los Angeles Dodgers have offered him a chance to come to spring training on a Triple-A contract.

"I hope they give me a look," he said. "I think it's a good chance to make it."

The stocky infielder with his father's name and looks has been trying to make it since 1989, when the Baltimore Orioles drafted him in the 13th round. He spent his first six years at the lowest levels of pro ball.

Things started to happen when the Cincinnati Reds -- his father's team -- signed him on Dec. 13, 1996. He had his best season at Double-A in 1997, hitting .308 with 25 homers and 98 RBIs in 112 games.

On Sept. 1 that year, with his famous father sitting in the front row, Rose Jr. made his major-league debut at first base for the Reds and got a single. He had arrived.

But not for long. He didn't start again and went 2-for-14 overall with nine strikeouts and a pair of walks. Then he got into a contract dispute with the Reds and wasn't invited to spring training.

He opened last year at Triple-A Indianapolis and hit .277 with three homers, but got passed over by younger prospects and wasn't playing much. When the Reds gave him the choice of taking a demotion to Double-A or free agency, he left.

Things kept going downhill. He latched on with Pittsburgh's Triple- club in Nashville, but hit only .208 and was released a month later. He ended up with the New Jersey Jackals, playing on a cramped college field.

While there, he declined interviews.

"I didn't talk to anybody because I was not there to talk, I was there to play baseball and let my playing do my talking," he said.

He went on the tough road trips to hardscrabble fields in obscure places.

"It makes you feel like you're back in rookie ball, back on the buses," he said. "But hey, you've got to do what you've got to do."

And he heard the cynics say he should just quit.

"I'm thinking to myself, 'I'm 29, not 39,"' Rose said. "There's no reason to think about it. People say, 'Are you ready to retire?' No. The way I take care of myself, I've got at least another 10 years."

In the off-season, he dedicated himself to the weight room, the place where he added the muscle that led to his breakthrough season in the minors two years ago.

"I'm in probably my best shape ever," he said. "I weigh 240, but I'm leaner than I've ever been."

He's gotten used to the idea of playing for the Dodgers instead of rooting against them. When his father was piling up those 4,256 hits, the Dodgers were one of the Reds' biggest rivals.

"It's funny," he said. "All those years I used to hate the Dodgers, being from Cincinnati and being a Red and with Dad. And now, I woke up one morning and I liked Dodger blue."

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