By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Pete Rose will do a network interview with ABC-TV's Prime Time in mid-December for release on Jan. 8 to promote his latest book, My Prison Without Bars, that will discuss Rose's life as a baseball outsider for the past 14 years.

Whether he will admit to anything regarding his gambling, and more specifically, to the allegation that he bet on Reds games while a manager here in the mid- to late- 1980s, isn't being publicly discussed by Rose's associates or the book publisher, Rodale Inc.

Warren Greene, his business agent, cautioned that Rose won't do anything to upset his bid for reinstatement.

"We're upbeat because we haven't heard anything to cause us not to be," Greene said. "It's still before (the commissioner)."

When Greene was asked to give his reaction to whether there was anything "explosive" in the book, he would say only that such a characterization would "help sell the book.," but that he was bound by a nondisclosure contract not to discuss the book's contents.

Richard Levin, a spokesman for Major League Baseball, said he didn't know the particulars of the Rose book and said baseball officials would have no comment on it. He reiterated Major League Baseball's position that there is no timetable to the possibility of Rose's reinstatement.

The press run of the book is 500,000 copies, said Cindy Ratzlaff at Rodale Inc.

She would not discuss the book's contents. The author is Rick Hill. The cost is $24.95.

"I'm very excited about it," said Kathy Bruser, store manager at Waldenbooks in Western Hills. "With Pete having grown up here and being such a popular figure here, I expect the book to be a big seller. ... In my personal opinion, though, I would say that if he doesn't address the gambling issue, it will be difficult for the book to have 'legs' nationally."

Rose's national TV interview will be with Prime Time's Charlie Gibson, who will also interview Rose the next day on Good Morning America, Ratzlaff said.

Immediately following will be interviews with national reporters and then a book tour that will include New York, Los Angeles, Cincinnati and Philadelphia.