Life ban stays but loves game

US all-time hits leader Pete Rose said Tuesday he was disappointed that his life ban from Major League Baseball remains in place.

Rose spoke in Las Vegas a day after major league commissioner Rob Manfred said he would not end Rose's lifetime banishment for betting on baseball as the Cincinnati Reds manager, a punishment imposed in 1989.

Rose, 74, works for Mandalay Bay casino in Las Vegas and says he has his gambling under control, but Manfred was unhappy that gambling remains a major portion of Rose's life.

Rose thanked Manfred for meeting with him last September and said he knew he put the first-year commissioner "in a tough spot to make a judgement on my situation."

"I'm disappointed, obviously disappointed," Rose said. "But I will continue to be the best baseball fan in the world. ... I'm a baseball player. I'm a baseball person, and that's never going to change."

Rose says he has changed greatly from the person who committed the violations in 1986 that led to his banishment.

"I've worked hard at it," Rose said. "I've got it under wraps the last several years. I'm under control right now. Unlike 30 years ago, when I was out of control as a gambler.

"I live in Las Vegas because that's where my job is. I'm a recreational gambler. I don't bet every day. I'm not a casino guy. I don't play blackjack, roulette, dice, all that stuff. I occasionally like to bet on horses because I used to be a horse owner and have a lot of respect for people in that industry. But everything I do is legal. I'm very selective with people I associate with now."

Rose said he still hopes for a chance to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but consideration would require his ban to be overturned.

"I think I can teach lots of people not to make same mistakes I made, to learn from my situation," he said. "People headed down the wrong path can learn from my situation."

Rose has applied for reinstatement twice before with other commissioners. He ended his playing days in 1986 with a record 4,256 hits and managed the Reds until 1989.

"I'm just looking to be friends with baseball." Rose said. "It would be nice to just have the opportunity to go to the Hall of Fame.

"I've led a Hall of Fame life by association with the teammates I've had. I'll try to be a better person every day, to where they'll eventually want me back."
Source: AFP