NEW YORK—As part of a formal appeal to lift his lifetime ban from baseball, sources confirmed Wednesday that former Cincinnati Reds star Pete Rose offered new MLB commissioner Rob Manfred a lower vig on an upcoming boxing match between Emanuel Lopez and Carlos Padilla. “I deeply apologize for tarnishing the integrity of Major League Baseball, but if I am reinstated, I will never disrespect the game of baseball again, and I can also get you some sweet action on this Saturday’s Lopez-Padilla fight, if you’re interested,” read an excerpt of the petition, which went on to say that Rose could get Manfred in on the ground floor with “a good friend” taking bets on the upcoming WBA Super Featherweight World Championship bout. “Look, this is an offer I wouldn’t extend to just anybody, but if you can get me ten large by Friday, I can pull some strings to lower the juice, plus cut your wager in before the opening line. And Lopez is a sure thing—just trust me on that.” Rose added that, if reinstated, he hopes to someday be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in order to “cash in big” on a few longstanding wagers.

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