What’s Next for Pete Rose? : Prison: Inmate could mow lawns, work as a clerk, do carpentry, engage in sports or watch baseball games on TV in evening.

Pete Rose won’t be bored at his new Kentucky home.

Organized softball, a library, a weight room and a new job await the baseball legend behind the razor wire fences of the Federal Correctional Institution at Ashland.

Many of Rose’s 1,128 new neighbors were abuzz Thursday with news that Rose would serve a five-month sentence for tax evasion at this medium-security prison.

U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel recommended Rose report Aug. 10 at the prison’s minimum-security camp. The order had prison officials puzzled, because the 150-bed camp is several months away from opening.

Exactly where Rose serves his time will be decided by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, bureau spokesman Scott Burton said, adding that a judge’s recommendation will be “taken into consideration.

“Mr. Rose will be treated as any other individual will be treated,” Burton said.

There was a sense of excitement inside the Ashland prison’s D Unit as inmates learned of Rose’s probable arrival.

“Pete Rose is coming here, man!” one young man shouted to fellow inmates.

More than likely, Rose will share a cramped cell with another inmate. The prison, located in a quiet neighborhood of this eastern Kentucky city, was built in 1940 and now is at 138% of capacity.

Rose, like other prisoners, will work in a variety of jobs. He could be mowing lawns outside the attractively landscaped prison, handling clerical duties in the office or building wooden chairs and tables in the prison industry program, said prison spokesman Jim Van Over.

The type of job depends on the inmate’s skills and his security risk, Van Over said. Inmates’ wages range from 11 cents to $1.20 per hour.

The wake-up call rings through the two-story cellblocks at 6 a.m. and inmates report to work by 7:30 a.m. They work a full day, then have five hours after dinner to play tennis, volleyball, read or watch Cincinnati Reds games on television.

Van Over disagreed with the idea that the Ashland prison has a country club atmosphere.

“Let’s face it. The guy’s still in prison. He won’t have the option to go home when he wants to, to wake up when he wants to,” Van Over said.

Several inmates expect Rose to blend in easily.

“We’ve all done something,” said James Miller, 42, serving a 15-year sentence on drug charges. “He’ll be just another roommate.”

Inmate Robert Auerbach, 38, is hoping Rose will get a bunk in the G Unit. The cellblock is filled with Cincinnati Reds fans and needs some hitting power on its softball team, he said.

Auerbach, serving time for marijuana cultivation, offered this advice to Rose:

“Bring a lot of books.”