Rose Begins 5-Month Sentence : Prison: He quietly enters minimum-security camp, where guards cannot seek his autograph.

Pete Rose was No. 14 on a baseball diamond.

He is No. 01832061 here.

Baseball’s all-time hit leader became a prisoner Wednesday when he entered a minimum-security camp next to the federal penitentiary to begin a five-month sentence for cheating on his income taxes.

Rose, who had until Friday to surrender, arranged beforehand to have a federal van pick him up in this Southern Illinois town and slipped unnoticed into the camp a few miles away.

The former Cincinnati Red manager arrived about noon and was accompanied by members of his family, Warden John L. Clark said. He did not specify which family members.

Rose was fingerprinted, photographed and given his prison number before he joined his fellow inmates for dinner, Clark said.

Clark said the prison would make a special effort to protect Rose, assigning him to a job that would be out of public view and respecting his request for no interviews.

Guards have been prohibited from seeking Rose’s autograph.

Rose’s release is scheduled for Jan. 7, 1991, prison officials said, and Rose said he hoped to be home for Christmas, with time off for good behavior. But assistant warden Randy Davis said Rose must serve three months at a halfway house in Cincinnati after he leaves Marion.

Rose, banned from baseball a year ago for gambling, was convicted on two counts of filing false income tax returns. He failed to report more than $350,000 in income from gambling, autograph signing and memorabilia sales.

Rose, 49, was sentenced July 20 by U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel in Cincinnati. He underwent knee surgery that day and delayed reporting to prison so he could recover.

Clark said Rose was not on crutches and that the knee was “doing well.” He said his prison job could depend on how long Rose was able to stand and walk.

As for Rose’s demeanor, an associate who asked not to be identified said: “His attitude was, ‘What do I have to do to get on with this?’ It was like back to work, back to business.”

For the first two weeks, Rose will stay in a building apart from the main dormitory while he becomes oriented to prison life, authorities said.

Camp inmates have been awaiting his arrival and said they hope he will play on their softball team. Rose also will have use of the camp’s basketball, tennis, handball and boccie courts, and its weight room.

The air-conditioned dormitory is surrounded by manicured lawns, with umbrella-shaded patio furniture, flower beds and a wildlife refuge. It is not fenced.

Inmates sleep two to a cubicle and move freely around the main building.