Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time leader in hits, hopes to return to baseball one day.
Rose received a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball 25 years ago after he admitted that he bet on Cincinnati Reds games while he was managing the team. He applied for reinstatement in 1997, but he was denied by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, according to ABC News.
Selig is scheduled to retire in January 2015 and Rose is hopeful that the next commissioner will reconsider the ban.
“I haven’t given up on bud,” Rose said. “I’m not glad he’s leaving. He has a love for the game and has been good for it. If the next guy is his best friend, I don’t expect he’ll just turn me loose, but if he isn’t, I hope he has an open mind.”
Rose is scheduled to manage the Bridgeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League tonight. The Bluefish are not an affiliate of any MLB team, this is why Rose is allowed to manage for a night, according the AP.
Rose spends most of his time signing autographs on the Las Vegas strip, where items range between $80 and $800.
“I know there’s a lot of people who want to give me a second chance because they wouldn’t be stopping and paying for my autograph if they didn’t think so,” Rose said.
He hopes his second chance come's sooner, rather than later.