Thursday, August 21, 2008

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? PETE ROSE, JR.

I listened to an interview this morning with Reds GM Walt Jocketty on the fine XM Radio program hosted by Mark Patrick and Buck Martinez, which made me think about the Big Red Machine, which made me wonder whatever happened to Pete Rose, Jr. who languished long in the minor leagues.

The answer is, he is still playing professional ball at 38. His brief call-up to the 1997 Reds was his only stint in the bigs, where he managed 2 hits in 11 games. He sports a .263 lifetime average and 1,556 hits in the minor leagues. He has played professionally for at least 23 teams. He played for a while with the Reading Phillies and Pete Rose would sometimes be in the stands. I don't remember whether I ever saw Sr. at the ballpark or just heard about it.

Like his dad, Pete Rose, Jr. ran afoul of the law and is not in the Hall of Fame.

In November 2005, Rose Jr. was indicted for distributing gamma butyrolactone (GBL) to his Lookouts teammates in the late 1990s. GBL is known to be sold under the counter at retailers as a sports performance enhancer as well as a sedative. When taken orally, GBL is converted to the "date-rape" drug GHB [gamma hydroxybutyrate]. Rose Jr. pled guilty to this charge on November 7, 2005, claiming that he distributed GBL to teammates to help them relax after games.

On May 1, 2006, Rose Jr. was convicted on this charge and was sentenced to one month in
federal prison, from June 5 to July 5, 2006. [4], and house arrest for 5 more months after release from prison.

1 comment:

Sir said...

I knew employees with the Feds when they both (Jr and Sr) served. One employee was pinched severely for lifting Sr. signature on a Baseball and selling it later. Naughty, naughty.

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