Rose Wants To Hear From Selig

Pete Rose is angry that Bud Selig hasn't responded in more than two years to his request for reinstatement to baseball.

"If you don't think I should be reinstated, it doesn't take that much to sit down and write it on paper and answer my request," Rose said on "The Martin Short Show," which was broadcast Friday.

Rose joked about keeping his cell phone with him at all times.

"I always keep it on because it might be Bud calling me," Rose said.

Selig, who did not immediately return a telephone call Friday seeking comment, has said repeatedly that he has seen no new evidence that would make him alter the ban.

At Thursday's taping, the studio audience welcomed Rose with a standing ovation that lasted more than a minute.

Rose, who applied for reinstatement in September 1997, answered questions about the recent interview by NBC sports reporter Jim Gray. Gray repeatedly asked Rose questions about gambling after ceremonies introducing the All-Century team, which included Rose.

Gray was criticized by many for the tone of the interview and later, under pressure from a corporate sponsor, apologized to fans.

"We were told it would be a very positive interview," Rose said. "Everything in the interview was about gambling."

Rose said he was pleased he got the longest ovation from fans at Turner Field when the All-Century team was introduced before Game 2 of the World Series.

"To get a bigger hand than Hank Aaron in Atlanta is almost like getting a bigger hand than God in heaven," Rose said.

Baseball's career hits leader has scheduled several interviews in the next few weeks, some of which are part of his promotion for an Internet company's launch.

Rose poked fun at the Gray interview during a skit in which he interviewed Short.

Following an investigation of his gambling, Rose agreed in August 1989 to accept a lifetime ban from baseball. He is ineligible for the Hall of Fame ballot as long as he's on the permanently banned list.

Rose denies he bet on baseball but A. Bartlett Giamatti, the commissioner at the time, concluded Rose had repeatedly bet on the Cincinnati Reds, the team he was managing.

The former Reds star said he doesn't "feel as bad as you might think" about not being eligible for enshrinement.

"It would mean more to my 15-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter than it would to anyone else because they didn't get to see me play," Rose said.

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