Pete Rose to be inducted into Reds hall of fame
CINCINNATI -- Pete Rose is headed into the team hall of fame in his hometown, the Cincinnati Reds said Tuesday.
The Reds' announcement came after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred last month rejected Rose's application for reinstatement. Manfred concluded that baseball's career hits leader continued to gamble even while seeking to end the lifetime ban imposed in 1989 for betting on numerous Reds games while playing for and managing the team.
The Reds' team hall of fame induction is planned for the weekend of June 24-26 in the 74-year-old longtime Reds' hometown.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 adopted a rule keeping anyone on the permanently ineligible list off the ballot. Rose said after Manfred's decision that he still held out hope he would one day be inducted into the national hall.
Reds' chief executive Bob Castellini said in a statement that inducting Rose into the Reds' hall will be "a defining moment" in franchise history.
"He is one of the greatest players to ever wear a Reds uniform and it will be an unforgettable experience watching him being honored as such," he said.
The club's hall of fame board chose Rose as the sole inductee for this year. Ken Griffey Jr., who will be inducted into the national Hall of Fame this summer, was among the latest inductees to the Reds' hall, which has 85 members.
It already has much of the 1975-76 "Big Red Machine" world champion team including the late manager Sparky Anderson. Rose will be the last inductee from the starting eight of Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, David Concepcion, George Foster, Cesar Geronimo and Ken Griffey Sr.
When asked last year by CBS' Lee Cowan if he feels he will ever get into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Rose said yes.
"I don't know if I'm going to live to see it," Rose said. "Someone, at some period of time, will feel it in their heart to give me a second chance. I might be six feet under, but that's what you have to live with."
A 17-time All-Star, Rose was the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year, 1973 MVP and 1975 World Series MVP. A three-time NL batting champion, he had 4,256 hits from 1963-86, topping the mark of 4,191 set by Ty Cobb from 1905-28.