NAMES IN THE NEWS : Pete Rose to Appear on Crutches for Sentencing on Tax Charges

Pete Rose will probably be on crutches when he appears at his sentencing on tax charges Thursday in U.S. District Court.

The former Cincinnati Reds manager injured his right knee on Sunday while playing stickball with children at a family reunion in Indiana, his publicist, Barbara Pinzka, said in a prepared statement.

Pinzka said Rose is to undergo outpatient arthroscopic surgery Friday.

According to Pinzka, orthopedist Dr. S. Michael Lawhon diagnosed the injury as torn cartilage but said the full extent of the injury and how long it will take Rose to recover won’t be known until surgery is performed.

Lawhon is the team physician for the Reds. Rose, who played for the Reds from 1961 to ’78 and from 1984 to ‘86, had a relatively injury-free career but had surgery on his left knee in 1986.

Rose is to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel on two counts of filing a false income tax return. He pleaded guilty to the charges on April 20. Rose’s lawyer, Reuven Katz, said the surgery was scheduled with the knowledge of federal probation officials.