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Pete Rose admits to betting on Reds every night…
Pete Rose revealed Wednesday that he bet on the Reds
"every night" while he was manager of the team and
that the Dowd Report was correct when it said he did
so.
On a radio program, Rose spoke Wednesday with Dan
Patrick and Keith Olbermann to discuss the new Pete
Rose exhibit that will be on display at the Great
American Ballpark as part of the Reds Hall of Fame.
The exhibit will be on display for 11 months.
"I bet on my team every night. I didn't bet on my
team four nights a week. I was wrong," Rose said.
Rose said that he believed in his team so much that
he bet on them to win every night.
"I bet on my team to win every night because I love
my team, I believe in my team," Rose said. "I did
everything in my power every night to win that game."
Rose accepted a lifetime ban for gambling in 1989,
but denied for nearly 15 years that he bet on
baseball. He finally acknowledged in his latest
autobiography, published in January 2004, that he
made baseball wagers while he managed the Cincinnati
Reds.
Rose said he doesn't worry about getting into the
Hall of Fame anymore, but if he is reinstated, he
hopes to manage again in the majors.
“I really thought I was going to be reinstated.
Something changed [Selig's] mind," Rose said.
Rose said he believes it should be up to each
individual owner whether he should manage in the
majors again.
"I quit worrying about it," Rose said about the
Hall. The former Reds great said that he thought he
was going to be reinstated when he met with
commissioner Bud Selig before his book came out.
Rose said he met with Selig about a year before the
book came out and told him everything that was in
the book.
Major League Baseball's Hit King also said he thinks
that Mark McGwire is getting a raw deal from the
writers voting for the Hall of Fame. The reason he
said he supported McGwire is because nothing has
been proven and they're all "allegations."
"Don't penalize McGwire because you think other guys
are taking steroids," Rose said.
McGwire wasn't voted into the Hall of Fame in his
first appearance on the ballot in January, receiving
only 23.5 per cent (to be elected you need 75 per
cent of the vote), because of allegations he used
performance-enhancing drugs in his career.
Rose admits he made a mistake in betting on
baseball.
"I made a big mistake. It's my fault, it’s nobody
else's fault," Rose said. However, he said he should
be reinstated because "I'm the best ambassador
baseball has."
Because of the ban, Rose is not eligible for
induction into the Reds' or Baseball's Hall of Fame.
He also is not allowed to be involved in most on-field
activities, which has prevented the Reds from
retiring his uniform No. 14.
Major League Baseball did include him in two events
-- 1999's All-Century Team and 2002's 30 Memorable
Moments -- that were sponsored by a credit card
company.
The new exhibit includes more than 300 items from
the career of Rose, who finished playing in 1986
with a record 4,256 hits. His total is reflected at
the Reds' Hall in a three-story high wall of
baseballs -- one for each hit.
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