Rose Leaves Prison After 5-Month Term

Pete Rose, whose fall from grace has been swift since he was banned from baseball in 1989 for gambling, left a federal prison camp this morning after serving five months for income-tax cheating.

Baseball’s all-time hits leader was driven away from the prison administration building at 8:30 a.m. The former Cincinnati Reds star was taken to a place on the prison grounds where he was met by his wife, Carol. Warden John Clark said the couple then headed for Cincinnati.

He made no statement to reporters except to answer “Great!” in response to a shouted question on how he felt.

Rose was scheduled to arrive at a Cincinnati halfway house in the afternoon to begin serving the second part of his sentence for tax evasion.

He will do 1,000 hours of community service, teaching physical education at inner-city elementary schools.

“He tells us he is eager to return to the community and work with youngsters in Cincinnati,” Clark said.

Rose will be on probation for nine months after his service at the halfway house.

The warden declined to comment on any specific activities that Rose was involved in during his stay at the minimum-security facility, except to say that his term was “unremarkable.”

“While he was with us, Mr. Rose worked hard every day at a manual labor job,” Clark said.

Rose, who commanded million-dollar salaries while piling up 4,256 hits over 24 major-league seasons, earned 11 cents an hour working an eight-hour day in a prison welding shop.

Rose has been assigned to live in the private Talbert House, said his probation officer, John Cole. Rose’s chief accuser, bodybuilder Paul Janszen, served 4 1/2 months there in 1989 for hiding income from the sale of steroids.