IRS Woes For Pete Rose
Pete Rose is an angry man.
He feels he's done his part, confessed that he bet on baseball. But instead of absolution, he keeps hearing more condemnation: His apology came too late, was insincere, upstaged the Hall of Fame and brought him more money.
"Now you're coming clean, and it's not good enough," he said Thursday during a 30-minute interview with The Associated Press. "It's not right. So how can I win? How can I win if people aren't going to be fair with me?"
Now 62, his hair thinner and his tummy chubbier, Charlie Hustle craves a full, free and unconditional pardon from baseball commissioner Bud Selig. He wants to get into the Hall of Fame - but what he really wants is the chance to manage a major league team again.
Rose says a reinstatement with restrictions would be unfair.
Pete Rose is back in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service, which says the baseball great owes nearly $1 million in unpaid taxes.
The IRS filed a federal tax lien in Broward County on Tuesday alleging that baseball's all-time hits king owes $973,693.28 in back taxes from 1997 to 2002.
Rose's business manager, Warren Greene, declined comment, saying "it's a private matter with Pete and his family." Rose, 63, spent five months in prison in 1990 and 1991 for filing false tax returns.
IRS revenue officer Helen Skinner, who signed the lien notice, said she could not comment. She referred questions to spokeswoman Gloria Sutton, who did not return numerous calls Friday.
Rose agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989 following an investigation that he bet on games. After 14 years of denial, he admitted in his recent book, "My Prison Without Bars" that he bet on games involving the Cincinnati Reds while managing the team in the late 1980s.
Rose has said he hopes to be reinstated by commissioner Bud Selig, become eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot and work in the major leagues again.
The commissioner's office had no comment on the lien, spokesman Pat Courtney said. Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, was not in the office Friday and could not be reached for comment.
During a 24-year career that included stints with the Reds, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Montreal Expos, Rose had a record 4,256 hits before retiring in 1986.
A fan favorite who was nicknamed "Charlie Hustle" because of his style of play, Rose made the All-Star team 17 times, was the National League's rookie of the year in 1963, MVP in 1973 and MVP of the 1975 World Series. He led the league in hitting three times and played on three World Series champions.