All Bets Are Off for Rose’s Class Act

Veronica Estrada’s third-grade class at Allesandro Magnet School in Glendale had a special guest Thursday on Career Day -- Pete Rose.

Rose was invited to the class by one of the students, Cassidy Casey, who knew him through Conrad Amba, an assistant basketball coach at Glendale College, where Rose’s son Tyler plays.

Since the kids had told their parents who was coming to class, a number of them showed up, including Mike Casey, Cassidy’s grandfather. He was impressed, to say the least.

“The more than an hour Pete spent with us was so fantastic and so exhilarating, it’s difficult to put into words,” Casey said.

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Trivia time: Besides being baseball’s all-time hit leader, Rose also holds the record for number of seasons with 200 or more hits. What is that record?

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A touch of humility: One of the third-grade students asked Rose, “Are you in the record books?”

Said Rose: “Yeah, somebody has to be there.”

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He only looks young: Another question posed to Rose: “Why aren’t you still playing.”

Rose: “Probably because I’m 63. But I don’t look it because I don’t smoke or drink and I don’t take drugs.”

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Willing to help: From another student: “My brother is going to a game. Can you get him to take me?”

Rose: “Tell you what. You get an A from Ms. Estrada and we’ll get your brother to take you.”

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It had to be asked: A father asked Rose, “Will you ever get in the Hall of Fame?”

Rose: “Well, we’ll probably get around to that one day. They won’t take me right now because I bet on baseball. But at least I never bet on my own team. It was a costly mistake that I’ll be paying for -- for the next 120 years.”

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Blanket coverage: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle: “ESPN has assigned a reporter, Pedro Gomez, to cover Barry Bonds this season like sand covers the Sahara. This means Barry, even when taking cuts in a batting cage, will never have to feel lonely.”

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Death penalty: Of the New England Patriots’ “Pass It On” plan that requires the heirs of deceased season-ticket holders to pay for the right to inherit the tickets, reader Dick Olsen of Santa Monica suggests this slogan: “They kick off, we receive.”

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What a rip: TNT’s Charles Barkley, on the Houston Rockets: “They are softer than my stomach right now.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1894, J.L. Johnstone of England introduced his invention -- the starting gate for horse racing.

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Trivia answer: 10

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And finally: The Long Beach Armada, an independent minor league baseball team, plans to hold tryouts at Long Beach State on March 26-27.

“This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Manager Darrell Evans said. “We are giving everyone a chance.”

So if Hideo Nomo doesn’t hook on with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, there’s still hope.

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.