Reinstatement Is Not a Sure Bet

As Pete Rose prepared Tuesday for a national tour on behalf of the book that serves as his betting confessional, there was no clear indication of where his possible reinstatement by Major League Baseball is headed, if anywhere.

However, a high-ranking official said emphatically that if Rose is reinstated at some point, “it will be with lots of limits and restrictions.”

The official said he could not be specific, insisting that Commissioner Bud Selig has not made a decision regarding reinstatement or what conditions might accompany it.

He acknowledged the possibility, however, that Rose, baseball’s all-time hit leader, could be reinstated only to the extent of having his Hall of Fame eligibility restored while prohibited from taking any job that would put him in uniform, including that of a manager.

It’s also possible that full reinstatement would only follow a period of probation, although the official said that “in a de facto sense, Rose has been on probation since he met with Bud” in November 2002 and first confessed to having bet on baseball.

Selig refused to comment Tuesday, saying it would be inappropriate because he is both judge and jury in the Rose case, but the high-ranking official said the limitations on Rose’s possible reinstatement would be aimed at reducing the risk of embarrassment.

“The guy has embarrassed the game enough,” the official said. “Bud won’t make any decision until he is sure that won’t happen again.”

Perhaps it already has.

Industry officials were irritated by Rose’s apparent effort, as one official said, “to exploit the Hall of Fame buzz.”

He referred to the fact that Tuesday’s announcement of the Hall of Fame election of Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley seemed overshadowed by the media reaction to Rose’s confession.

The book -- “My Prison Without Bars” -- in which Rose confirms the conclusion of investigator John Dowd that he bet on baseball as manager of the Cincinnati Reds, resulting in his lifetime ban in 1989, initially was scheduled for March distribution.

Even Molitor said Tuesday he was a “little disappointed” with the timing of Rose’s confession and the release of his book because it steals some of his and Eckersley’s spotlight.

“I also understand Pete’s been trying to get back in the game for a long time and is trying to maximize his opportunity,” Molitor said.

Rose, of course, is intent on reaching the Hall of Fame himself and knows that his confession was a mandatory step toward possible reinstatement.

His timing, however, seemed to be looked on negatively by baseball officials, who took exception to the view that Selig’s failure to make public Rose’s 2002 confession to him, or to act on it then, permitted Rose to set the timetable for when he would go public and to cash in on his book and ABC deals.

Aside from the fact that a banned player has never been reinstated and that Selig has no obligation to reinstate Rose and no timetable for considering it or doing it, the officials cited several reasons as to why Selig didn’t act then.

Among them:

* The fact that Rose admitted betting on baseball merely confirmed what the commissioner had known since 1989 and was (is) only one of the many considerations in his possible reinstatement.

* Facilitated by the efforts of former Rose teammates Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt, the Milwaukee meeting between Selig and Rose might have served to accelerate reinstatement if 1) news of it hadn’t become public, creating the perception for some that Selig was possibly bowing to pressure, and 2) there weren’t subsequent sightings of Rose at various casinos and racetracks, convincing the commissioner that he hadn’t reconfigured his life, a pivotal consideration.

* Once the doubt resurfaced about Rose’s lifestyle and sincerity, Selig was determined that it would not be a distraction during the 2003 season and pushed it to a back burner.

* Amid all of this, despite the lobbying by Morgan and Schmidt, Selig also had to consider (and still does) the views of Bob Feller and many other Hall of Fame players who have openly opposed Rose’s reinstatement and indicated they might boycott the induction ceremony if Rose is reinstated and elected to the Hall.

In addition, the officials said, it was not as if Rose was the only issue on Selig’s plate in the 14 months since their meeting.

Among the many issues that ate up his time: the implementation of the new bargaining agreement, the reorganization of the All-Star game, the uncertain status of the Montreal Expos, and the sale of the Angels and prospective sale of the Dodgers.

Now?

The clock continues to tick.

If Rose is not reinstated in the six weeks before spring training, Selig is again likely to relegate it to the 2004 scrapheap despite his hope, the officials said, that at some point before his announced retirement in 2006 he can permanently remove it as a potential distraction.

“The level of Rose’s contrition and the modification of his lifestyle are definitely considerations that the commissioner will be examining,” the high-ranking official said.

The examination will continue as Rose pumps his confessional -- contrived as the timing of it may be -- on his national tour.