Bridgeport Bluefish management is betting the manager banned by Major League Baseball for betting on baseball will become a box-office bonanza when Pete Rose dons a Fish uniform June 16 as a special guest skipper for the night.
The announcement comes as the Barnum Festival swings into full gear. Can you see Phineas Taylor Barnum smiling from above? To paraphrase P.T., you will if you get there.
Rose, the all-time Major League hits leader, last managed a professional game about 25 years ago with the Cincinnati Reds. His ban from baseball for betting on games has also precluded his entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame. After denying it for years, Rose admitted he bet on baseball as manager of the Reds in a book released about 10 years ago. Irrespective of his ban from baseball, Rose is still a fan favorite at baseball memorabilia events. Rose’s son played for the independent league Bluefish about a decade ago.
“I’m doing this because I love baseball,” says Rose in a news release issued by the Bluefish. “I love young players because they bring you one thing you need in sports–enthusiasm. These young men are here working their butts off. They don’t have egos–they are hungry. They run hard and they play hard, all the time.”
“This is one of the biggest and influential announcements in not only franchise history, but in professional baseball in the last 25 years as well,” says Bluefish general manager Ken Shepard. “We encourage everyone to come out to the ballpark on June 16 to experience this special occasion.”
Game time for Monday, June 16 is 7:05 p.m., with The Ballpark at Harbor Yard gates opening at 6:05 p.m. The Bluefish will honor Rose’s number 14, by selling all Box and Reserved tickets for $14. A special meet-and-greet package with Pete Rose is also available. Tickets and more information regarding the meet-and-greet package are available by visiting the Bluefish ticket office, calling (203) 210-BLUE, or going to www.bridgeportbluefish.com.
The Bridgeport Bluefish are members of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and play their home games at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard. For further information, call 203-210-BLUE (2583) or visit BridgeportBluefish.com.
Hey Pete–two to one the Bluefish win!
He may be a Rose, but he is still a Prick!
Would you rather have roses on your piano or tulips on your organ?
Ernie, Joe, John and Pete.
Nelson Mandela famously forgave his oppressors. After the end of apartheid, which had fostered racial separation and kept blacks impoverished, Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected President. Some in his political party clamored for revenge against members of the previous regime or perhaps even all privileged white people. Instead, to avoid violence, stabilize and unite the nation, and attract investment in the economy, Mandela appointed a racially integrated cabinet, visited the widow of one of the top apartheid leaders, and created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that would clear the air and permit moving forward.
Willie, Hank, Stan and Roberto.
This guy named John said some time ago, “Let He Who Is Without Sin …”
This is great public relations for the ballpark and the City. I read about it on the bleacher report and CNN.
Give me a team of Pete Rose-type players and I’ll beat you 90% of the time. Here’s a guy with Baseball Hall of Fame statistics, went to jail for illegal betting and paid the price for his excesses, and has been banned from baseball. Now look at Ganim, Newton and John Rowland. They can run for office and are supposedly forgiven for their violations of their oaths of office. Throw in Richard Blumenthal and John Hennessy who lied about their service in the military and what do you get? A duplicitous system of inequality!
Oh, and add in John Kerry and his swiftboat military experience, lied about his three purple hearts, then went before Congress and lied about his fellow Vietnam Veterans.