Pete Rose dismissed questions in his first appearance on a baseball field since the Phillies scrapped plans to honor him in 2017 after a woman claimed he had sex with the player when she was a minor.
“It was 50 years ago,” Rose told The Philadelphia Inquirer reporter.
Rose, 81, declined to answer further questions in the dugout after taking a team photo on the field to celebrate the 1980 World Series championship with other players. The celebration was postponed in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rose appeared on the field for the first time in Philadelphia since Major League Baseball banned him for life in August 1989.
However, the Phillies intended to honor Rose in 2017 for his contribution to the 1980 World Series championship and the 1983 National League title.
The woman, identified as Jane Doe in 2017, said Rose spoke to her in 1973 when she was 14 or 15 years old and they began a sexual relationship in Cincinnati that lasted several years. She also reported seeing each other elsewhere in Ohio for sex.
Rose’s lawyers said the woman’s comments cannot be verified.
In 2017, Rose acknowledged that she had a relationship with the woman, but that it started when she was 16 years old. She also claimed that she never had sex outside of Ohio.
At the time, Rose was in his 30s and married with two children.
The Phillies had intended to induct Rose into the Wall of Fame at an on-field ceremony, but canceled the event and had no further plans to celebrate Rose until this season.
Rose, a 17-time All-Star, had 826 of his 4,256 hits in five years with the Phillies from 1979-83.
Rose has asked MLB to end his ban.
