Is There a Statue of Limitations for Pete Rose?

Pete Rose might be immortalized in Cooperstown, after all.

With or without the Hall of Fame.

Dr. Peter Merrill, pastor of tiny Hallton Church of Christ in Austin, Pa., says he plans to build a statue of baseball’s all-time hit leader if Rose is not on the Hall of Fame ballot by Labor Day.

“Pete Rose should be forgiven, not forgotten,” Merrill told the Associated Press.

Merrill would like to erect the statue as close as possible to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

“That way,” Merrill said, “people will see Pete when they come to the Hall of Fame.”

Rose was placed on baseball’s permanently ineligible list after an investigation into allegations that he bet on games. The Hall of Fame voted unanimously last February to take Rose’s name off the ballot until he is reinstated--if such a development occurs.

Merrill met Rose only once, at a baseball card show. But Merrill has already formed the Pete Rose Memorial Fund.

Don Olin, a realtor in the Cooperstown area, said Merrill has inquired about land available for purchase.

“The monument could detract from the glory of previous players in the Hall, and I do not like the thought of that,” Merrill wrote in a letter to baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent. “But neither do I like the thought of gutless decisions. . . . Rose has been called out, and we think he was safe. Errors happen, players screw up. Mistakes are part of baseball. Mistakes are part of life.”

One Cooperstown resident had a novel suggestion.

“Let’s immortalize what he’s done wrong,” Margaret Savoy said. “I can think of a great spot--up by the jail.”

Gold Glove or Golden Glove?: Batters charging the mound in the California League had better make sure they are not going after Salinas’ Brant McCreadie. A 6-foot-2, 190-pound pitcher from Honolulu, McCreadie is a former Hawaii Golden Gloves cruiserweight boxing champion.

Trivia time: Minnesota Twin pitcher Scott Erickson has won 11 consecutive games this season and is 16-2 since Sept. 1. Four more victories in the next two months would make him a 20-game winner in his first 12 months in the majors. Who was the last pitcher to accomplish that?

No penalty for holding: A financially struggling Australian Rules football team has signed a four-year sponsorship deal with Spellbound, a brothel in its hometown.

For $4,600, the players on Williamtown United will wear Spellbound’s logo on their jerseys, and an advertising sign will be displayed at all the club’s home games.

A Spellbound official said the deal will also include discounts for players and team officials.

“We are a struggling club,” team President Les Goding said. “We need every penny we can get.”

Trivia answer: Bob Grim of the New York Yankees in 1954.

Quotebook: Asked why he feels so strongly about promoting Latin American fighters, Don King replied: “There is a strong bond between us. I am one of them and they are one of me.”