Tuesday, May 04, 1999
Rose joins minor-league team as instructor
The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Pete Rose will be back in uniform on a field next week despite his lifetime ban from baseball.
The Sacramento Steelheads of the independent Western League said Monday they are hiring the career hits leader as a special hitting and infield instructor for spring training.
Rose, expected at camp May 10, agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball in August 1989 for illegal gambling. At the time, commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti concluded that Rose bet on games while he was managing the Reds, a charge Rose has denied.
Rose applied for reinstatement in September 1997, but commissioner Bud Selig has not ruled on the application.
His ban does not apply to the Steelheads because the Western League is not affiliated with organized baseball — the major leagues and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, which is the governing body for the minors.
The Steelheads start their first season May 21.
“Pete from the beginning has always expressed that he wants to be involved in the Sacramento Community,” Steelheads owner Bruce Portner said.
Portner also asked Rose to give a motivational speech to players at Sacramento City College.
Rose, 58, retired in 1986 and finished his 24-year career with 4,256 hits. He would have been a near-unanimous choice for the Hall of Fame, but in February 1991 the Hall's board of directors adopted a rule that prevented banned players from appearing on the writers' annual ballot.
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