The Associated Press

Exactly 10 years after Rose was kicked out of baseball for life, commissioner Bud Selig said Monday that if Rose is elected to the All-Century team, the sport’s career hits leader would be invited to the World Series.

Tuesday, August 24, 1999

Exactly 10 years after Rose was kicked out of baseball for life, commissioner Bud Selig said Monday that if Rose is elected to the All-Century team, the sport’s career hits leader would be invited to the World Series.

Rose was snubbed by baseball last month when the living players among the 100 on the All-Century ballot participated in a memorable on-field ceremony before the All-Star game. Rose wasn’t asked to a pregame luncheon with the others on the ballot.

”Whoever is elected to that team will be invited to the World Series,” Selig said Monday.

Fans vote for 25 players, and the 30-man All-Century team, including five additions selected by a media panel, will be announced before the World Series opener Oct. 23.

Nine outfielders will make the team, and Rose was ninth in the latest vote totals, which were released last week. Stan Musial and Roberto Clemente were close behind.

Updated totals were to be announced today.

Selig said he hadn’t reversed his position on allowing Rose’s participation and said the decision to invite Rose if he’s elected doesn’t affect his status as a banned player. At the All-Star game, 98 of the 100 players on the ballot were honored with banners hanging at Fenway Park – Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, banned as a result of the Chicago Black Sox scandal in 1919 – were exceptions.

”This is a result of an election, and I felt that in terms of what baseball does, those people who are elected ought to be asked to come,” Selig said. ”But does it change his status or anything else? The answer is no.”

Rose said last week that he had heard rumors he might be invited if he’s elected.

”That’s good news for me to hear, that he’s OK with me being part of the All-Century team,” Rose said.

Then manager of the Cincinnati Reds, Rose signed an agreement accepting a lifetime ban on Aug. 23, 1989. While the agreement made no official finding, commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti said at a news conference the following day that he concluded Rose had bet on Reds games.

As part of the agreement, Rose may not work with major league teams or their minor league affiliates. He also may not be in any part of any ballpark or training complex that is not open to fans with tickets.

Rose, 58, applied for reinstatement in September 1997. While Selig hasn’t ruled, he also has said he sees no reason to change the lifetime ban, one of just 15 ever issued by the commissioner of baseball.

Rose is ineligible for the Hall of Fame as long as he’s banned for life. No person ever permanently banned has ever been reinstated.

”It seems that in our society, 99 out of 100 guys are given another opportunity,” Rose said. ”I’m the one out of 100 that’s not being given another opportunity, which is mind-boggling to me.”