Wednesday, March 3, 1999
Pete Rose bleeds Dodger blue for his son
The Associated Press
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Wearing an L.A. cap, Pete Rose speaks with his son Pete Jr., who's trying out in the Dodgers camp at Vero Beach, Fla.
(AP photo)
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VERO BEACH, Fla. — Pete Rose kept a low profile, sitting quietly in the stands at Dodgertown watching his son play in an intrasquad game. He hopes to be watching Pete Jr. playing in Los Angeles one of these days.
And Pete Jr. says it's going to happen, later if not sooner.
“I think I've got what it takes,” Pete Jr. said Tuesday. “I plan on making the team. I don't plan on playing in (Triple-A) Albuquerque.”
And if manager Davey Johnson sends him down?
“I'll bust my tail,” Pete Jr. said. “I'm going to be in LA at some time. I'm a guy who's got some pop. Left-handed pop looks to be a little scarce around here. I think Davey Johnson likes tough guys. I come to play.”
The elder Rose, the Reds great and career hits leader who agreed to a lifetime ban for gambling, called Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone during the winter to request a favor.
“Pete asked me to give his son a chance,” Malone recalled. “I've known both of them for years. They both have huge hearts. I figured it was a win-win situation. I told Pete it would be tough for (Junior) to make the team. He said, "No special treatment, all we ask is a chance.' ”
And that's the deal. The younger Rose, a 29-year-old whose only major league experience was a brief spell with the Reds 18 months ago, signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.
And here he is, giving it his best shot.
“Nobody can tell me to stop chasing my dream,” he said.
“He knows how to play, he's not going to give up,” the elder Rose said. “He's just now figuring out his m.o.”
Rose referred to the change his son went through between the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Essentially, Pete Jr., went from a clone of his father to a power hitter, bulking up in the gym from 200 pounds to around 230.
“I'm bigger than he is,” the younger Rose said. “It took me longer to figure things out. I had to make a change, and I did. Basically, I've been at this for only a few years.”
He recently spent a week with his father, and it helped as he entered spring training.
“It's a plus when you have the hit-king on your side,” he said. “He's just unbelievable, a great person, a great dad, a great coach.”
And, obviously, a big fan of his son.
The younger Rose had his best season by far in 1997, hitting .308 with 25 homers and 98 RBIs in 112 games for Double-A Chattanooga. He was called up by the Reds and made his only big-league start on Labor Day, going 1-for-3.
The crowd in Cincinnati, where Rose's father played most of his career and later managed, was 31,920. The majority of those tickets were sold after it was announced Rose was playing.
“The Reds didn't give him a chance,” dad said. “They used him to make some money. I know it wasn't (owner) Marge (Schott). Marge likes Pete. If nothing else, he paid to go to spring training the next year.”
It didn't happen that way, and after the younger Rose was asked to go to Double-A in 1998, he refused and asked for his release. He wound up the year playing for the New Jersey Jackals of the independent Northeast League.
The younger Rose remains somewhat bitter.
“Playing in Cincinnati was special, unbelievable,” he said. “There will only be one thing better — when I go there as a visitor and get the job done. And it's going to happen.
“(The Dodgers) go to Cincinnati in May. I've already had dreams about playing against them, coming up in a big situation and getting a key hit.”
Despite what happened, the elder Rose said he still pulls for the Reds.
“They play on Pete Rose Way, man,” he said. “I just don't like the way certain people treated him. I'm a Dodger fan now. I just don't want to make those flights to Albuquerque.”
As Rose spoke, his son, a left-handed hitter wearing No. 74, came to the plate to face Onan Masaoka, a left-handed pitcher.
“I'll let you know if he's my son after he hits,” Rose said to a fan. “If he gets a hit, he's my son. If he doesn't, he's your son.”
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![[roses]](/editions/1999/03/03/roses_600x394.jpg)