One Thing That’s a Sure Bet: Bench, Rose No Longer Friends

Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench said he believes that former teammate Pete Rose bet on baseball and should be kept out of the Hall of Fame until he admits guilt and apologizes.

That prompted an angry response from Rose, who said that Bench didn’t know the facts and should keep quiet.

Both men, who were key components of Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine” teams of the mid-1970s, made their comments in separate interviews with Cincinnati radio station WLW, which broadcasts Reds games.

“He created his own problem,” Bench said of Rose. “Nobody wants to say or believe that he ever did such a thing [bet on baseball], and most of the majority that now believe that he did do it still think it’s all right, still think it’s OK that he bet on the game of baseball.”

Rose again denied that he had bet on baseball, saying that even the late Commissioner Bart Giamatti never proved Rose had bet on baseball when he banned Rose in 1989 for gambling on sports.

“Johnny’s an intelligent guy, I thought, but he just don’t think before he talks,” Rose said. “If you don’t know the facts, you have to keep your mouth shut. And Johnny don’t know the facts.”

When Rose was banned, he signed an agreement with baseball that made no finding on whether he had bet on the game. Giamatti said he personally believed Rose bet on baseball.