Despite the fact that Pete Rose is serving a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball, he’ll be making an appearance managing a minor league team.
Rose will manage the Bridgeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League for their June 16 game against the Lancaster Barnstormers, according to ESPN.com.
While this is obviously a publicity stunt, Rose said he’s making a return to baseball to help guide young players.
“I’m doing this because I love baseball,” Rose said. “I love young players because they bring you one thing you need in sports — enthusiasm. These young men are here working their butts off. They don’t have egos — they are hungry. They run hard and they play hard, all the time.
“I will tell each of the players in the clubhouse a few things before the game,” Rose said. “I will look at each of them and say that every one of you guys has more ability right now than I did at 18 years old. I was told that I was too slow, didn’t have a strong arm, and didn’t have power, but I got an opportunity and I worked the rest of it out.”
Rose hasn’t managed a baseball game since 1989, when he received a lifetime ban for gambling while he played for and managed the Cincinnati Reds.
