“This city was my dad,” Fawn Rose said. “Cincinnati baseball, it’s in our DNA. This is really for you all.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Fawn Rose said that she hoped to be the one to announce Pete Rose’s removal from the permanently ineligible list, which took place on Tuesday. But ultimately, what she said mattered most was that Pete Rose now has a chance to be selected into the MLB Hall of Fame.
“The emotion was overwhelming,” Fawn Rose said. “It was really a big deal. I can tell you with my meeting with the commissioner, the commissioner was grateful, gracious, kind and really gave me a forum to talk about my dad.”
During the Q&A, the Reds’ Hall of Famers on stage all told stories from their experiences with Rose.
Foster played with Rose on the Big Red Machine in the 1970s.
“He did whatever he needed to help the team win,” Foster said. “A guy like him can sacrifice himself for a team. That’s a team player. Everywhere he went, he brought a winner.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
After the Reds acquired Foster in a deal with the San Francisco Giants, Rose moved from left field to third base so that Foster could be in the lineup every day.
“From then on, the Big Red Machine stared to roll,” Foster said.
Davis played with and for Rose in the 1980s. When Rose managed Davis, he told the star outfielder that if he ever bunted, he’d be fined $100. Davis never bunted again, and his power became one of his biggest strengths.
“What Pete did for me when he came here was he saved me,” Davis said. “They were trying to change me and my style and made me hit the ball on the ground and run… He was all about winning. If the best players were young, the best players made the team.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
While Rose’s final year managing the Reds was in 1989, Davis said that Rose’s approach leading the Reds in the late 1980s was a key factor in the team’s World Series title in 1990. Rose inherited a young group of talented players and helped them take the next step before eventually breaking through in 1990.
“Everything he did, there was a meaning to it,” Davis said.
Larkin played for Rose, and he also grew up watching Rose. Larkin was born and raised in Cincinnati and was a big Reds fan as the team won back-to-back World Series titles in the 1970s.
“We’d go outside and try to imitate the head first slide,” Larkin said. “We played hard. We expected to win. We tried to emulate every characteristic that Pete Rose embodied.’
When Larkin played for Rose, the manager talked to the young shortstop about the responsibilities of representing Cincinnati as a hometown player on the team.
“He talked to me about how to handle myself,” Larkin said. “It was a very personal father-like relationship.”
The Reds Hall of Famers sat in front of a table that included an authentic Rose jersey, a replica Rose statue, a signed bat, a bouquet and a standing flower arrangement that spelled out the No. 14. The Reds watched it all from the dugout rail.
“It means something to everyone that’s going to be here tonight,” Reds manager Terry Francona, who also played for Rose in Cincinnati said before the game. “I’ll be standing on the top of the dugout hoping that his family is enjoying it. There are going to be a lot of cool things, I’m sure.”
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