Report: Rose, Selig talk reinstatement

CINCINNATI, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Pete Rose apparently met with Commissioner Bud Selig in Milwaukee two weeks ago to discuss a possible reinstatement to baseball for the game's all-time hits leader.

A Cincinnati television station aired a report about the meeting Monday night. Major League Baseball declined to address the meeting, which also has been reported by ESPN.com and MLB.com.

"There have been a number of stories alleging conversations and meetings between Commissioner Selig and Pete Rose," said Bob DuPuy, President and Chief Operating Officer of MLB. "Pete Rose applied for reinstatement to Commissioner Selig several years ago. The application has been pending since that time. Given the pendency of that application, neither the Commissioner nor anyone else in our office will comment on the Pete Rose matter."

Rose's attorney, Gary Spicer, didn't immediately respond to a telephone message from MLB.com.

WXIX-TV reported that Rose and former Philadelphia Phillies teammate Mike Schmidt met with Selig to discuss a deal. The report said that Rose would have to undergo a 12-month probationary period before further action could be taken.

"There are a lot bigger people I'm obligated to answer to first," Rose told WXIX through a personal friend, "so my official comment is 'no comment.' "

Rose agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball in August 1989, following an investigation into his gambling. Since then, his bids for reinstatement, official and otherwise, have been unsuccessful.

In recent years, Rose has garnered some public sentiment. He received the loudest ovation of the evening before Game 2 of the 1999 World Series, when the All-Century Team was introduced in Atlanta.

Fans in San Francisco delivered another thunderous ovation for Rose before Game 4 of this year's Series, when Major League Baseball named its all-time greatest moments, including Rose's 4,192 career hit that broke Ty Cobb's record.