Wednesday, May 12, 1999
Rockford GM: Rose lying about talking to players
The Associated Press
Pete Rose's claim that he spoke to Reds minor-leaguers in Rockford, Ill., is a fabrication, the farm team's general manager said Tuesday.
Baseball's banned hits leader gave autographs on a concourse at the ballpark in Rockford as part of a promotion before a game but had no access to the players, general manager Bruce Keiter said.
A spokesman for commissioner Bud Selig said baseball was investigating.
“The first we heard about this was last night,” Rich Levin said in New York. “People here are looking into it, and we'll see what happened.”
Keiter said he made sure that the guidelines for Rose's lifetime ban for gambling were followed during the April 29 visit.
“Pete's a good guy. I really think he is feeling years later the brunt of this whole thing taking effect on him,” Keiter said in a telephone interview. “He desperately wants to get back into organized baseball. This is not the way to go about it.
“He cannot fabricate things and make it appear he's doing things that he's actually not doing. When he continues to fabricate these things, it only puts him in a dimmer light with the powers that be in Major League Baseball.”
Rose's ban essentially prohibits him from doing anything more than a regular ticket-buying fan at any game involving a major-league team or one of its farm clubs affiliated with the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the governing body of the minors.
Rose is allowed to be a special instructor for the Sacramento Steelheads because they're part of the independent Western League. He gave the players a motivational speech Monday and said he'd talked recently to the Rockford Reds as well.
Rose said through his agent Tuesday night that he had only brief contact with some of the Rockford players between signing autographs for fans and throwing out a ceremonial first pitch.
“I spoke to Pete. The whole issue is going to be interpretation,” agent Warren Greene said. “In between signing and throwing out the first pitch, Pete was with some of the people from the promotion, and a few of the players came over to shake Pete's hand and ask for an autograph. He did not speak to the players in any organized fashion.”
The Reds have been reprimanded twice by Major League Baseball for allowing Rose to have unauthorized access or contact with players since he agreed to his ban in August 1989.
In 1993, Rose improperly was allowed to go into the broadcast booths during a game at Riverfront Stadium. The Reds didn't know that was prohibited under his ban.
In spring training last year, Rose showed up in Sarasota, Fla., to watch his son, Pete Jr., work out with Reds' minor-leaguers. The Reds' minor-league coordinator invited Rose to talk to the players, another violation of the ban.
The Reds admitted their mistake and were reprimanded but not fined.
When they learned of the planned appearance in Rockford, the Reds made sure everyone in the organization knew what Rose was prohibited from doing.
“I wasn't there, so I don't know what transpired, but I know the message was conveyed, and I feel confident that there's nothing that they did to violate the rules,” Reds managing executive John Allen said Tuesday.
“Just so nothing (improper) would take place, I had him sign balls in my office for each player,” Keiter said. “I put each ball in the player's locker the day after Pete was gone.”
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