Pete Rose described as “ridiculous” a report...

Pete Rose described as “ridiculous” a report that he flashed signals relating to baseball betting to a friend in the stands at Riverfront Stadium, denied other gambling allegations made about him and warned of possible legal action because of some of the reports.

In his first interview about the substance of allegations contained in a Sports Illustrated story, the Cincinnati Reds manager questioned the credibility of sources named by the magazine.

“They talked with four guys: two of them go to jail, the other says he’s a bookie, and the other one’s my friend; they didn’t say nothing about him,” Rose said.

Rose declined to say whether he has bet on baseball.

“I’m not saying anything about that,” he said. “I’ll have my chance to talk. Now my best comment is ‘no comment’ because no comment can help me right now.”

Rose said he is troubled by media reports about his alleged links to gambling and large debts.

“We’ll sit down when this thing is over and we’ll read everything that’s been written,” he said. “If there has to be some things done, there will be some things done. People better know what they’re writing, better have substantial proof.”