The Philadelphia Phillies are having the worst season in the Majors and took another blow when a fun event ended up getting canceled. A ceremony was planned for Pete Rose to be inducted into the team's Wall Of Fame on Saturday, August 12. After Statutory Rape allegations involving Rose and a 17-year-old girl hit the news, the ceremony was canceled. The allegations state that Rose had this relationship sometime during the 1970s. Originally, the allegations were brought up in 2015, but new information has been discovered to make this bad timing for both parties.
Rose spent five seasons with the Phillies and was a part of the 1980 World Series team. He is the MLB's career leader in hits but has a lifetime ban for gambling while playing. In 2015, commissioner Rob Manfred denied his appeal to be reinstated.
Not the best time
Both parties felt that having the ceremony while Rose faced these allegations was bad timing. The Phillies' organization did not want to be associated with Rose when the allegations surfaced. A statement from Rose concurred with the decision to cancel the ceremony due to these allegations. It was supposed to be a fun weekend with the ceremony taking place during Phillies Alumni Weekend. Both felt this would be a distraction.
This is not the first time that Rose has been in the news for trouble with the law.
Rose spent time in jail for tax evasion in the 1990s. Plus, there are the gambling problems that have kept Rose out of the Hall of Fame despite him leading the MLB in career hits. Who knows how true these rumors are? If they are true, it would add another sad chapter to a former icon.
The Phillies will also not distribute the Rose bobble head anymore.
The team is still expected to recognize former Wall of Fame inductees in a pre-game tribute. Also, the team will recognize 40 alumni on Sunday but are telling fans that they can exchange their tickets for the August 11 or August 12 games for a game in the future. Rose was the sole inductee for 2017. Recent Wall of Fame inductees has included Jim Thome, Pat Burrell, Charlie Manuel, and Curt Schilling.
Allegations on Rose
Court documents showed that Rose admitted to having a sexual relationship with a girl and stated that he believed she was 16 years old. Rose was 34 at the time, married, and had two children. The relationship happened while Rose was in Ohio, where the age of consent is 16 years of age. The documents were filed by John Dowd, who led the investigation that led to the lifetime ban of Rose.
Rose sued Dowd last season when Dowd made these allegations on a radio show. With these new allegations, it's unknown what will happen to Rose with his job. Rose is employed by FOX and is a baseball studio analyst where he is featured with Alex Rodriguez and Frank Thomas.
