Rose May Have Been Asked to ‘Step Aside’

Pete Rose rejected a suggestion by the baseball commissioner’s office to “step aside” as manager of the Cincinnati Reds until its investigation into his gambling activities was completed, it was reported Saturday.

“The commissioner’s office did not order him to step aside, did not request him to step aside,” said Hal Bodley, baseball editor for USA Today said on CNN’s Baseball ’89. “. . . but it’s one of these things where they would have liked for him to do it.

“Pete said ‘No.’ I think it was the right thing to say, frankly, because if he had stepped aside, that would have been a clear admission of guilt on his part.”

Bodley is a longtime friend of Rose’s and the Reds’ manager was the best man at Bodley’s wedding.

Said Rose: “He wrote that last week. Because it was on TV, does that make a difference? How would Bodley know, he wasn’t there. To my knowledge, Bodley wasn’t there when it happened.”