A Rose by the Same Name Is Just as Sweet for Reds

Pete Rose Jr. got a hit in his major-league debut, winning his father’s applause, but couldn’t reach Jermaine Dye’s tie-breaking double as the Kansas City Royals rallied for a 7-4 victory Monday over the Cincinnati Reds.

With his father watching from the stands, Rose, 27, struck out in his first at-bat and then singled the second time up.

Pete Rose, who tops baseball’s hits list with 4,256, held up his index finger to celebrate his son’s first major-league hit. Rose also applauded, along with the crowd of 31,920, when his son made a backhand stop on Jay Bell’s grounder down the third-base line and threw him out in the fourth.

Rose Jr. took one of his father’s bats to the plate in the second inning, imitated his dad’s hitting crouch for the first pitch, then went back to his spread stance. He struck out on a foul tip.

In his next at-bat, using one of his own bats, Rose Jr. singled off first baseman Jeff King’s glove, prompting the crowd to break into the chant that was the background for his father’s biggest moments: “PETE! PETE! PETE!”

“I thought it went pretty well,” Rose Jr. said. “I’ll take one for three with a couple of strikeouts. I was nervous.”

Before they called Rose Jr. up for his debut, the Reds had sold only 16,000 tickets for the game.