Pete Rose expected to attend Phillies’ celebration of 1980 World Series team
Five years after his appearance was canceled, Rose will join former teammates at Citizens Bank Park for the Aug. 7 ceremony.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/ASTOIKPNINCOPOGVRC764QTWAA.jpg)
Pete Rose is expected to be at a Phillies game for the first time since he was banned by Major League Baseball for betting on the sport in 1989. Larry Bowa, a former teammate of Rose’s, said on the Phillies TV broadcast Saturday night that Rose will attend the celebration of the 1980 World Series championship team on Aug. 7 at Citizens Bank Park. A team spokesperson confirmed Rose would be in attendance.
Rose, who is baseball’s all-time hits leader with 4,256 hits over a 24-year career, was a key member of that 1980 team. He played for the Phillies from 1979-1983, hitting .291/.365/.361.
Rose was last scheduled to attend a Phillies game in August of 2017 to be inducted into the team’s wall of fame. The Phillies canceled that appearance after a Cincinnati woman identified as “Jane Doe” said in federal court that she had a sexual relationship with Rose that started in 1973, when she was 14 or 15 years old, which is below the age of consent in Ohio.
» READ MORE: Will the Phillies’ next big signing be a star shortstop? There could be plenty of options.
Rose was not charged with statutory rape because the statute of limitations had expired. The woman’s testimony was part of the defense in a federal lawsuit filed by Rose in Philadelphia against lawyer John Dowd, whose investigation resulted in Rose’s lifetime suspension from MLB for betting on baseball in 1989. Rose filed the suit after Dowd made comments on the radio alleging that a former associate of Rose’s “ran young girls for him down in spring training, ages 12 to 14.”
In a statement accompanying the filing, Rose acknowledged that he had a relationship with the woman, but claimed it began when she was 16 years old, which is the minimum age of consent in Ohio.
After the news came out in 2017, the Phillies said Rose wouldn’t participate in the team’s alumni weekend and canceled a Rose bobblehead giveaway scheduled around the event.
When asked why the team invited Rose back to Citizens Bank Park, and whether there has been shift in how the organization views him and his actions, a team spokesperson responded: “The celebration on Sunday, August 7 is about honoring the team, not an individual player.”