Pete Rose still beloved in hometown despite scandals - STLtoday.com
11, 1985, file photo, Cincinnati Reds' Pete Rose rounds first base after hitting a single to break Ty Cobbs' hitting record during a baseball game at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. ESPN says it obtained a notebook that shows Rose bet on Reds games during his last season as an active player in 1986. The career hits leader agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989 after an investigation by John Dowd, a lawyer retained by... CINCINNATI • A photograph of the bat and ball from Pete Rose’s record-setting 4,192nd hit has adorned the back of the enormous video board at Great American Ball Park for a dozen years, reminding everyone of one of the city’s biggest sports moments. It’s also a reminder of something more: Even with the gambling scandal, a lifetime ban and the fact that he hasn’t lived in Cincinnati — where he grew up — for a long time, this still is Pete’s place. Baseball’s hits king remains revered in his hometown, no matter how much evidence surfaces about how he violated the sport’s cardinal rule by betting on baseball. “When you play in your hometown and you’re a great player like Pete was, you’ve got to be loved,” said Hall of Famer Tony Perez, a teammate on the Big Red Machine in the 1970s. “The people appreciate what I did for the team and the great years I... They’ve never stopped loving him, even though he’s been banned from the sport since 1989 for betting on baseball. Source: www.stltoday.com
