Flashback Friday: Pete Rose's Lone Professional On-Field Appearance In Connecticut

BRIDGEPORT, CT — With the name of the late Pete Rose resurfacing earlier this week upon his removal from Major League Baseball's permanent ineligibility list, there is considerable debate whether or not he should finally be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Rose, nicknamed "Charlie Hustle" for his all-out style of play, died last September at age 83. He still holds big league records with 4,256 hits, 3,215 singles, 3,562 games played and 14,053 at bats. In 24 seasons as a player, he posted a .303 batting average, made 17 National League All-Star teams at five different positions, won three World Series championships, three batting titles and two Gold Glove awards. He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1963, the loop's Most Valuable Player in 1973, World Series MVP in 1975 and compiled a 44-game hitting streak, second longest in MLB history, in 1978.

Despite those remarkable accomplishments, Rose is not a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. In the late 1980s, he was suspected of breaking one of the game's taboo rules by betting on baseball games, including some involving the team he was managing, his hometown Cincinnati Reds. In 1989, he signed an agreement with MLB commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti which placed him on baseball's permanently ineligible list, eliminating him from consideration for enshrinement in Cooperstown, N.Y.

After denying the allegation for many years, Rose finally admitted to having bet on games during his managerial stint. He applied for reinstatement on several occasions, but was denied each time.

Earlier this week, commissioner Rob Manfred made an historic ruling that all bans expire after death of the person on the list, opening the door to the possibility of Rose, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and others being considered for the Hall of Fame by a veterans committee. The next vote of the Classic Baseball committee, examining candidates whose career was primarily prior to 1980, is slated for the 2027 winter meetings.

A quick look at Rose's minor league career indicates he never played a professional game in Connecticut. The closest was in his debut pro season, 1960, when he was a 19-year-old second baseman for the Geneva Redlegs of the Class-D New York-Penn League (NYPL). Unlike later years, when the NYPL had a franchise in Norwich, all teams in the league at that time were based in either New York or Pennsylvania.

Later, minor league teams began playing in Bristol, New Britain, Hartford, New Haven, West Haven and Waterbury. However, none existed during the three years Rose toiled in the Reds' farm system. After his year in Geneva, he played the 1961 season in Tampa, Florida, then spent 1962 in Class A in Macon, Georgia before making the Cincinnati roster in 1963.

A quarter-century after accepting his lifetime ban from the major leagues, Rose donned the uniform of the Bridgeport Bluefish, a team in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, for a one-night stand as guest manager. Being unaffiliated with MLB, Rose was able to grace The Ballpark at Harbor Yard on June 16, 2014.

Admittedly done as a promotional stunt, the brief appearance did exactly what Bluefish management had hoped. The team averaged 2,147 fans per game during the 2014 season, but the presence of the all-time hit king found 4,573 people making their way through the turnstiles that day.

Facing off against the Lancaster Barnstormers, Rose exchanged lineup cards at home plate with opposing manager Butch Hobson, then spent the first five innings coaching first base before retreating to the dugout next to Bluefish manager Willie Upshaw for the remainder of the contest. After the game, the fans repeatedly chanted, "Hall of Fame! Hall of Fame!"

Incidentally, Bridgeport posted a 2-0 victory, giving Rose a perfect 1-0 record as a pro manager outside of the big leagues.