Tuesday, October 26, 1999

Gray: 'Pete ruined his own evening'

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Debate rages over reporter's grilling of Rose

BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        Jim Gray said Monday that all he wanted to do was give Pete Rose a chance to apologize. Now, baseball fans from coast to coast want Gray to say he's sorry.

        The backlash from Gray's NBC interview with Rose continues. Fans flooded switchboards of NBC affiliates from New York to Los Angeles. The phones at WLWT-TV (Channel 5) in Cincinnati rang for two hours non-stop after the interview aired Sunday night.

        A fan created a Web site (www.public@mawent.com) to try to get Gray fired. MasterCard, which sponsored the All-Century team, demanded that Gray apologize. The interview was discussed for hours on talk radio.

        “I don't apologize,” Gray told reporters on Monday. “I stand by it, and I think it was absolutely a proper line of ques tioning.”

ANGRY AT NBC?

Express your outrage at Jim Gray's interview at:   • programming@nbc.com   • Our Reds forum   • Send us a Letter to the Editor   • feedback@majorleaguebaseball.com   • Fire Jim Gray and Apologize to Pete Rose Boycott Web site

        Gray's interview came as Rose left the field in Atlanta after he was honored as a member of baseball's All-Century team, just before Game 2 of the World Series.

        The ceremony was the first time Rose had participated in a Major League Baseball event since he agreed to a lifetime ban for gambling in 1989.

        “Pete had a opportunity to open the door further for him to get back in baseball, or at least get in the Hall of Fame,” Gray said. “He went about it by saying everything he's said in 10 years, which is not going to get him any closer.”

        Rose's future in baseball rests with Commissioner Bud Selig, who couldn't be reached for comment Monday. Neither could Rose.

        The interview was confrontational from the start. Gray blamed that on Rose.

        “Pete ruined his own evening,” Gray said.

       

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Watch the interview at MSNBC.com Gray: 'Pete ruined his own evening' Selig still blocking Rose from Hall Rose for Hall of Fame, Gray for Hall of Shame 6 questions on same subject is 5 too many Paul Daugherty column Journalists have to ask, not badger Tim Sullivan column NBC reporter thought he'd get admission John Fay column Dowd: 'I tip my hat to Jim Gray' Readers reaction: Throw the bum out Other reaction McKeon's answer could come today

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