Tuesday, February 08, 2000
'75 salute: Stay away, Pete
When the Reds honor their World Series champs of 25 years ago, their Most Valuable Player won't be there
BY TIM SULLIVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig allowed Pete Rose to appear with the All-Century Team, but he is resisting efforts to honor the Hit King's contributions to one of the century's greatest teams.
The Cincinnati Reds will observe the 25th anniversary of their 1975 world championship on June 3. Yet, if the Most Valuable Player of the 1975 World Series wants to observe the ceremonies preceding the Reds' 7:05 p.m. game against the Minnesota Twins, he may have to sit in the stands.
Rose
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“Obviously, this is a very sensitive subject, and a very misunderstood one,” Mr. Selig said Monday. “But as things stand, there's been no change (in Mr. Rose's status). ... I did make an exception for the All-Century team because fans were voting and I didn't want to do anything to stop that. But we said it was a one-time thing.”
Anticipating the silver jubilee of the Big Red Machine, Reds officials wondered whether Mr. Rose's inclusion in the All-Century festivities might lead baseball to lift its embargo on his ceremonial involvement with individual clubs. Uniform patches were prepared to commemorate the Reds' 1975 and 1990 World Series titles. The June 3 date was selected, at least in part, to provide an attendance boost for an interleague series against the Twins, the worst team in baseball in 1999.
John Allen, the Reds' chief operating officer, expressed concern Monday that Mr. Rose's absence from the Big Red Machine ceremonies might overshadow the presence of those players who do participate. Asked whether he would attempt to appeal Mr. Selig's decision, Mr. Allen declined comment.
“We're going to abide by Major League Baseball's rules,” he said. “I know it's a sensitive issue, and I know that there are pro-Pete Rose fans out there. In Cincinnati there are a lot more because he's a real hometown hero. ... But we didn't suspend him, and we can't unsuspend him.”
Attorneys for Mr. Rose did not return phone messages Monday.
Mr. Selig said his office had received some “informal” inquiries on the matter from the Reds, and he can expect a similar query from the Philadelphia Phillies.
Mr. Rose left Cincinnati for Philadelphia following the 1978 season and spurred the Phillies to their only World Series title, in 1980. The Phillies plan to honor that team June 15-17 at Veterans Stadium.
“Sometime we will approach the commissioner's office,” Phillies spokesman Larry Shenk said. “But it's on the back burner right now. Pete wasn't permitted (to participate) in 1990 when we had the 10-year reunion. I guess he can buy a ticket.”
With Mr. Rose pursuing repeal of the lifetime suspension he accepted in 1989 — his attorneys presented their case to baseball's top lawyer, Robert DuPuy, last month — Mr. Selig is careful to present an open mind and preserve the appearance of due process. Still, the commissioner has seen nothing to convince him to order Mr. Rose's reinstatement or a reduced sentence. Neither is Mr. Selig persuaded that the All-Century ceremonies set some precedent he is obliged to follow.
“I don't want to make too much out of this,” Mr. Selig said from his office in Milwaukee. “If there's some formal request, we'll consider it from time to time. At the moment, the agreement stands.”
Terms of the settlement Mr. Rose signed with Bart Giamatti in August 1989 made him permanently eligible to participate in Major League Baseball. Subsequent commissioners have interpreted the ban to include any appearances made under the auspices of any major league club.
In 1998, the Reds were reprimanded after Mr. Rose delivered an impromptu address to minor league players at the club's spring training complex. When the All-Century ballot was unveiled during last summer's All-Star break, Mr. Rose was the only living candidate deliberately excluded from the announcement.
Criticized for the appearance of a double standard (and suspected of susceptibility to sponsorship pressure), Mr. Selig later reconsidered Mr. Rose's place in the promotion. On the 10th anniversary of Mr. Rose's suspension, Mr. Selig announced that all living players elected to the All-Century team would be invited to appear be fore the second game of the World Series. Mr. Rose earned the last outfield spot in the fan balloting — and an ovation that outstripped that of Atlanta icon Hank Aaron.
Fueled by his public support, and the sympathy generated by the combative questioning of NBC's Jim Gray, Mr. Rose began to press his case for clemency. In October, an Associated Press poll showed 56 percent of respondents favored Mr. Rose's reinstatement. In November, an Internet site enlisted Mr. Rose as a spokesman and launched an online poll to promote his candidacy for baseball's Hall of Fame.
Dan Jasper, a spokesman for sportcut.com, said Monday that close to 250,000 votes have been cast, and that more than 200,000 of them favor Mr. Rose's enshrinement in Cooperstown. The promotion has been extended through Feb. 15.
The Reds are in the process of inviting players to attend the June 3 ceremonies. Details are still developing. Still, Mr. Rose's glaring omission is sure to detract from the event, just as his presence made the All-Century ceremonies more memorable. He is baseball's open wound, a wound felt most keenly in Cincinnati.
“It's one of the greatest teams of all time,” John Allen said of the '75 Reds. “And it's always going to have a shadow.”
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