Schmidt Goes to Bat for Rose : Baseball: During Hall of Fame induction, he says it’s time to make a place for baseball’s career hits leader in Cooperstown.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. —  Even before Mike Schmidt began speaking, the fans were getting loud, knowing what was coming.

“We want Pete! We want Pete!” they chanted, without prompting.

From fold-out chairs and blankets 300 yards away they clamored, waving red hats and waiting for Schmidt to say what he promised he would on Sunday.

Schmidt turned his Hall of Fame podium into a pulpit to promote Pete Rose, telling the biggest induction crowd ever--an estimated 25,000--it was time to make a place for baseball’s career hits leader in Cooperstown.

Wearing a No. 14 lapel pin to honor his former Philadelphia teammate, Schmidt twice mentioned Rose during a 20-minute speech. While growing up in Dayton, Ohio, he remembered, his grandmother would tailor his pants to match the style worn by her favorite player, a young second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds.

“I join her and millions of baseball fans in hoping someday soon, someday very soon, Pete Rose will be standing right here,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt’s references to Rose drew large ovations from the crowd, mostly from Philadelphia and many who rode the 200 tour buses that made the 4 1/2-hour trek. Those fans surely recalled Rose’s time in town, when he helped the Phillies to the only World Series championship they ever won.

There were sporadic bursts of “We want Pete!” throughout the ceremonies. They started up again when Richie Ashburn, one of five men being inducted in the Hall, said there were several players who should be considered, including Ron Santo, Nellie Fox and Rusty Staub.

But there was absolutely no reaction--no smiles, no hand claps, no nothing--from 30 previously elected Hall of Famers who sat stone silent around Schmidt.

Rose was banned from baseball for gambling, thereby making him ineligible for election to the Hall.

Schmidt, whose 548 home runs for Philadelphia rank seventh in major league history, was elected last January on the first ballot by the Baseball Writers Assn. of America. Ashburn, a .308 career hitter mostly with the Phillies, Negro Leagues star Leon Day, turn-of-the-century pitcher Vic Willis and key National League founder William Hulbert were voted in by the Veterans Committee in March. Day died six days after being selected.