Pete Rose: ‘I’d love to talk’ to Rob Manfred about reinstatement

Pete Rose has been in baseball’s doghouse for more than a quarter-century, and he’s hoping the new man in charge will give him a chance at redemption.

Rose, baseball’s all-time hit king, said he wants to talk to newly appointed MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred about his lifetime ban from baseball in hopes of getting it lifted someday.

“I wish I could tell that I know what he’ll do,’’ Rose told USA Today, “but I’ve never met him. I’ve never seen him.

“But I’d love to talk to him.’’

Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on games and his chance to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame evaporated when the Baseball Writers Assn. of America later voted to bar players on the permanently ineligible list.

Rose has applied for reinstatement twice -- once under Commissioner Fay Vincent’s tenure and another time during successor Bud Selig’s watch -- but both applications were never approved.

“I’ll always have hope,’’ Rose said. “That’s all I’ve got.’’

Rose said he hopes to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at some point and that he just wants to be on the ballot.

“Let the writers decide,” he said. “If they want me in, I’m in. If they don’t feel I should be in, I can live with it.

“Once they lift my ban, I should be just like anyone else. If I’ve never been on the ballot, my clock should start at zero. That will give them 10 years to decide, if they need it.’’

Rose retired in 1986 following a 24-year career with the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos. His 4,256 career hits seemingly made him a lock for the Hall of Fame until an MLB investigation found that, as a manager, he bet on 52 games in 1987.

In 1990, Rose plead guilty to tax evasion and was sentenced to five months in prison.