Philadelphia Phillies to Induct Pete Rose into Wall of Fame
By John Town
As many saw coming once he was put on the ballot, the Phillies will induct Pete Rose into the Wall of Fame later this season.
The Phillies announced Monday afternoon that Pete Rose will be the newest member of their Wall of Fame. Rose will be inducted Saturday, Aug. 12, prior to a game later on that night against the Mets. Fans going to the game the day before will receive a Rose bobblehead. Saturday the Phils will give away a Rose print.
Rose had the following to say in a press release from the team:
"“I am very honored to be inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame. My baseball years in Philadelphia were amazing, not just because we won it all in 1980 and came close in 1983, but also because the fans welcomed me from day one,” said Rose. “The team’s great ownership and talented roster attracted me to Philadelphia as a free agent. I knew we could experience great success.”"
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Rose spent a majority of his career in Cincinnati with the Reds, winning two World Series in 1975 and 1976. He signed in Philadelphia prior to the 1979 season with an $800,000 salary (about $2.7MM in 2017 dollars), making him the highest-paid player at the time.
Team bench coach Larry Bowa, who played alongside Rose in Philadelphia, said fans loved Rose because of his “blue-collar” playstyle.
Bowa told Matt Breen of Philly.com how important adding Rose to the roster was, calling him the “missing ingredient”:
"“When he came over here, he told everyone that when teams came to play us that we were an intimidating team. A lot of people on our team didn’t believe that, so he just kept saying it and saying it and we started believing in it. And obviously the way he played the game, with reckless abandon … I saw him play through a hamstring pull, stuff like that. When other guys watch guys go through injuries and don’t get off the field, that means a lot.”"
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Rose is still banned from baseball after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred denied his application for reinstatement two years ago. However, the league has become more relaxed about Rose. The Reds added Rose to their Wall of Fame last year, clearing the way for the Phillies to do so. The league approved the Phils putting Rose on the Wall of Fame ballot back in February.
In his five years in Philadelphia, Rose played 745 games with a .291 batting average and .726 OPS. He collected 826 hits, 255 RBI, and scored 390 runs playing mostly first base. His 4,256 career hits between Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and Montreal are the most in MLB history.
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While Rose remains barred from baseball, and in effect the Hall of Fame, he will still go down as one of the legends of baseball, and the Phils will honor him as such.