Pete Rose on Sex Misconduct Claims: '55 Years Ago, Babe'

Controversial former player attends Phillies celebration
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 8, 2022 3:00 AM CDT
Updated Aug 13, 2022 12:10 PM CDT
Pete Rose on Sex Misconduct Claims: '55 Years Ago, Babe'
Former Philadelphia Phillies player Pete Rose during an alumni day event before a baseball game between the Phillies and the Washington Nationals, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022, in Philadelphia.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Controversial former baseball player and manager Pete Rose attended a celebration honoring the Philadelphia Phillies team that won the 1980 World Series, of which he was a part, and there was a bit of backlash regarding his appearance there. Asked by a female reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer whether he thought his presence there sent a negative message to women, he replied, "No, I’m not here to talk about that. Sorry about that. It was 55 years ago, babe." Asked about that reply later by the AP, Rose said, "Who cares what happened 50 years ago? You weren’t even born. So you shouldn’t be talking about it, because you weren’t born. If you don’t know a damn thing about it, don’t talk about it." Rose apologized at the end of the appearance.

The 81-year-old, who was banned by Major League Baseball in 1989 for betting on the game while he played and worked as a manager, was accused in 2017 of having had a sexual relationship with a Cincinnati teen that started in 1973, when she was 15, and continued for years. The woman's testimony was revealed during a defamation lawsuit Rose filed against the lawyer whose investigation led to Rose being banned by the MLB. That lawyer said in 2015 that he was told Rose had sexual relations with girls as young as 12, and Rose sued him over the comment. He says he's never committed statutory rape, and said the relationship that was revealed in court began after the girl turned 16. (More Pete Rose stories.)

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