By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Pete Rose was only 25 minutes into a 75-minute talk on hitting and baseball life to a group of high school players Saturday when some parent's cell phone rang. The parent hesitated.

"Answer that," Rose ordered. "It might be Bud Selig."

Everybody laughed, and so did Rose. He was having a good time, back in his element, teaching baseball again. The scene was Champions Baseball Academy in Sharonville.

Thirty minutes later, Rose had just begun the question-and-answer part of his talk when a young player asked: "If you are reinstated, are you going to manage again?"

This time, it was Rose who hesitated. Then a grin creased that block of granite, that Mount Rushmore face.

He answered his young interrogator: "What are you, a smart (mouth)? ... All I can say is, 'Don't you see that guy over there taking notes?' "

The Hit King had 'em eating out of his hand now. He was being himself, the icon - and not a self-proclaimed one, at that - the man whose presence once filled Cinergy Field with 40,000 people for a softball game. Saturday, about 200 youngsters shelled out $150 each to hear the Hit King, get a three-hour hitting clinic from Pete Rose Jr. and company, a T-shirt and an autographed bat from Rose Sr.

Everybody knows Rose wants to manage again, and the logical place is Cincinnati. Nobody at 100 Main St. will address the question, but if Rose gets reinstated in November and is given a year's probation before being allowed to manage again - as is the speculation - that would make him eligible for a manager's job in 2005.

Rose has remained mum on the subject of possible reinstatement. This past summer in Cincinnati, Rose's longtime friend and former teammate, Mike Schmidt, said reinstatement could come as soon as November.

Rose was true to his promise again Saturday. He would not discuss his current situation. But one could see that what Schmidt said is true. Wanting to manage again burns inside Rose. He wants to be in the game, in charge, making a good buck. He has seen the empty seats in various ballparks. He believes in his heart there are some places where he could do again what he once did - get the players to believe - and that he again would make a franchise some money.

Can baseball sell it to fans? Would the fans' trust in the games Rose manages be compromised?

"One thing I've never been accused of is betting against my own team," Rose said.

He turned retrospective, but only for moment.

"It's been a long time," he said. "My little girl just turned 14. She was born two days before I got suspended."

Is Schmidt right when he said there figures to be a meeting in November and Schmidt will be there?

"I don't know; I have no idea," Rose said. "But I'd want him there. If you are going to do something five-sixths of the time, you might as well do it six-sixths of the time. He (Schmidt) hears everything. Nobody can ever go back on what they say. He's not in there taking notes, but he's listening."

Rose said he has "kind of a gentlemen's agreement with the commissioner" not to discuss reinstatement.

"You understand my position," Rose said. "I don't want to make him mad. It's just best not to talk."

E-mail jerardi@enquirer.com