Tom Groeschen

tgroeschen@enquirer.com

Pete Rose grew up playing baseball on hot, sunny Cincinnati afternoons such as Saturday. And, the town’s favorite sports son made it mostly about his home city as Rose was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame.

“To date, this is the biggest thing ever to happen to me in baseball,” said Rose, whose remarks were answered several times by applause. The only time Rose’s voice wavered was during comments such as those, when he got personal.

“I would hit for you. I would try to score runs for you. I did this for you,” Rose told Reds fans, who sweltered in 87-degree heat during Rose’s pre-game speech at Great American Ball Park. “I truly think that the baseball capital of the world is the Queen City.”

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Rose, a product of Western Hills High School, alternately cracked wise and praised his many baseball influences, from Knothole managers to coaches to former teammates. Reds President and CEO Bob Castellini formally inducted Rose, with longtime Reds radio voice Marty Brennaman acting as emcee and welcoming his “dear friend” to the Hall.

About 25 Reds Hall of Famers sat nearby on the field, wearing their red Hall jackets as Rose spoke at a podium. The generations spanned from Rose’s early Reds years (Leo Cardenas, Jim Maloney, Tommy Helms and more) through the Big Red Machine era (Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, George Foster et al.) and beyond (Jose Rijo, Eric Davis, Chris Sabo and more).

Rose’s lengthy pre-game speech nearly spilled into the Reds’ scheduled 4:10 p.m. start against San Diego. In fact, the game's start was delayed until 4:16 p.m.

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Rose, aware that he was starting to filibuster, turned to Castellini and quipped:

“Does that mean I gotta go when the music starts playing? The hell with it. I waited 30 years.”

Laughter and applause.

Rose in 1989 was handed a lifetime ban from baseball, for betting on games. Commissioner Rob Manfred upheld the ban this past December.

Then, it was announced in January that the Reds Hall of Fame board of directors voted unanimously to change the bylaws and elect Rose to the team’s Hall of Fame, as well as retire his number 14. Rose is baseball's career hits leader with 4,256, and was captain of the 1975 and '76 Reds teams that won World Championships.

The Reds' board, with Manfred’s blessing, bypassed its usual selection process that involves fans and media voting to make Rose the lone inductee in 2016.

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“God bless the Commissioner of baseball,” Rose told the crowd, which thought about it briefly and then applauded lightly.

Otherwise, it was mostly Cincinnati. Rose mentioned several other former Reds who were either born in Cincinnati or spent their formative Knothole baseball years in the city.

“You think about (Ron) Oester, (Barry) Larkin, Buddy Bell, Dave Parker, Billy Doran. All the guys from Cincinnati. We all played the same way. We all played hardnosed. We all played to win. I think Knothole baseball instilled that in us when we were kids. God love Knothole baseball.”

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More from Rose, who was clad in his customary white Reds hat (with white wishbone C), black trousers, white boots and dress shirt with ‘Hit King’ emblazoned on one collar:

- “Our Reds Hall of Fame, there’s not even a close second among the other 29 teams. Our Hall of Fame is the best.”

- “Did I ever think I’d make it? Nope. But I did.”

- On why he was not yet wearing the Red jacket worn by other Reds Hall of Famers on Saturday: “I didn’t get the red coat yet. They tell me I get it (Sunday) night.”

- “This is the first Hall of Fame induction I’ve been to for the Cincinnati Reds. And I must say, it was the first one I was invited to.”

- “Bob (Castellini), am I ever gonna get a statue?”

Castellini responded with a thumbs-up. A Rose statue is scheduled for next year at GABP.

- On this year’s struggling Reds: “You’ve got to support your Reds. They’re trying. They’re playing better. You’ve gotta get behind them. They hear you. They know you’re there.”

- And finally, on the city of Cincinnati: “We’ve all been raised the same. We love chili. We love pizza. We love ice cream. We love ribs. And we all love the Cincinnati Reds.”

The induction continued a Rose weekend that included the 1976 World Series champion Big Red Machine team honored in pre-game ceremonies Friday night. Rose’s number 14 will be retired Sunday.

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SUNDAY SCHEDULE

-Reds vs. San Diego Padres, 1:10 p.m.

-12:30 p.m.: Pregame Pete Rose No. 14 jersey retirement ceremony

-Ceremony will include appearances by some previous Reds legends to have their numbers retired: Johnny Bench (#5), Davey Concepcion (#13), Barry Larkin (#11) and Tony Perez (#24)

-All fans receive Pete Rose commemorative print, presented by John Morrell

-6 p.m.: Hall of Fame Induction Gala, presented by Clark Schaefer Hackett at Duke Energy Convention Center