Saturday, June 09, 2001
Rose, 31, undeterred by release
Let go by Phils, rehabbing knee
By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Pete Rose Jr., 31, said Friday he is determined to continue his professional baseball career after being released by the Philadelphia Phillies organization last week.
He was rehabbing from a knee injury at the time he was let go. He was batting .500 (15-for-30) for Double-A Reading (Pa.).
“It's a shame that you work hard to get back healthy, and when you're almost ready to go, they let you go,” Rose said.
He first injured his knee late last year (a “meniscus tear,” he said). Reds medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek did the surgery in September. Rose reinjured the knee in spring training.
“I'm playing it by ear,” Rose said. “Doc said to shut it down until the beginning of July. Who knows what can happen? Hopefully, something will happen with the hometown club.”
The “hometown club” is the Reds, for whom Petey's father, Pete, became baseball's all-time hit king with hit No.4,192 on Sept.11, 1985.
Twelve years later — Sept.1, 1997 — Pete Rose Jr. started at third base for the Reds at Cinergy Field and went 1-for-3 with a single. He was reassigned to the minors at the end of that season, then cut the following year.
Besides the Reds and Phillies, the other organizations for which Rose Jr. has played are the Dodgers, Pirates, Orioles, White Sox and Indians.
“I'd love to come back (to Cincinnati),” he said. “It would be a great opportunity. That tells you how deeply I feel about (the Reds), because I hated them for letting me go. But if I have to go to an independent league (to a team unaffiliated with a major-league club), that's what I'll do.”
He was playing third base for Reading but said he also can play first base or left field.
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Rose, 31, undeterred by release
