Pete Rose was in Coopertown over the weekend signing autographs. (Craig Ruttle photos) | ZOOM |

        COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — The Hit King was relegated to sideshow Sunday. That's the way it is for Pete Rose these days, and he says he has accepted that he's not the star anymore. But on this day, with three associates from the Big Red Machine going in the Hall of Fame, Rose seemed out of place on a street a mile away from the induction ceremony.

        While Tony Perez, Sparky Anderson and Marty Brennaman were being inducted Sun day, Rose watched on TV. Later, he sat under a tent, a few feet off the main drag in Cooperstown, signing autographs. He was just a block from the Hall of Fame itself, where he can't be inducted because of his lifetime ban from baseball for gambling.

        Fans walked by Rose's autograph table and yelled things like, “You should be in the Hall of Fame, Pete!”

Rob Hatcher of Nashville, who grew up in Cincinnati, raised a common question at Cooperstown. | ZOOM |

        Rose waved, but he doesn't pay much attention to such talk. He believes he should be in the Hall. But he knows unless commissioner Bud Selig overturns the ban, he'll be relegated to the sidelines.

        “Being in the Hall of Fame is the ultimate for any player. But the Hall of Fame induction right now would mean more to my young kids (ages 10 and 15) than anybody else, just like the hand in Atlanta (before the World Series last year) meant more to them, because they never seen me play,” Rose said. “But I'd rather be re-instated to be in the game of baseball. I'm a lover and a teacher of the game, and my whole life has been the game.”

        There was much sentiment Sunday for Rose to be in the Hall. Brennaman and Perez mentioned it briefly in their speeches. Fans booed Selig lustily and chanted “Pete, Pete,” when Selig took the microphone.

A group of seniors from Delhi wore shirts with the inscription: "Wanted Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame." | ZOOM |

        Rose admits some gambling mistakes — not betting on baseball, of course — but doesn't understand why Se lig won't overturn the ban. He thinks life would be a lot easier for Selig if he did.

        Rose said not being in the Hall doesn't hurt. But he got more frustrated the more he talked about it as he signed balls, helmets, jerseys and pictures outside the memorabilia museum a fan set up in Cooperstown.

        “It doesn't hurt inside,” Rose said. “I'd love to be back in baseball because it's a good job. But now I'm an ex-baseball player. I have no desire to go out and hit a baseball and play in an old-timers game because every good thing comes to an end.”

        “For those who say, "Why are you here, I say "Why not?' ” he said. “This is one of the best shows I do all year.”

Hall of Fame induction colored Red Perez feels like a king Sparky: Happy, humble, grateful Brennaman creates stir with Rose remark Rose in Cooperstown but not at Hall SULLIVAN: Hall is worth the wait Reds may have long wait now BACK TO HALL OF FAME PAGE

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