Pete Rose Jr. to become Wingnuts’ manager
The Wingnuts will introduce Pete Rose Jr. as the franchise’s third manager during a Wednesday afternoon news conference at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, according to general manager Josh Robertson.
Rose Jr., the son of baseball’s career hits leader, succeeds Kevin Hooper, who managed in Wichita for seven seasons. Hooper was named minor-league infield coordinator for the San Diego Padres last month.
Since then, Robertson has led the search for Hooper’s replacement. After recently narrowing the list to three candidates, he decided on Rose, who managed four seasons in the Chicago White Sox organization. He last managed in 2014 for Class-A Kanapolis (N.C.).
“He’s my type of manager,” Robertson said. “A guy who’s not going to put up with anybody not playing the game the right way or not respecting the game.… I knew that I’d never go find another Kevin Hooper, and I wasn’t even going to try to look, because there’s not one.
“But I was worried that if I got a guy that’s as passionate and fiery as I am, we would clash. I can definitely see that fire and that passion in Pete, but I think that we’ll mold together. There’s no ego coming in here.”
Rose, 46, played professional baseball for 20 seasons, reaching the major leagues briefly with the Cincinnati Reds in 1997. Much of his final seven years was spent in independent baseball after he played for seven major-league organizations.
“He knows what (independent) ball is all about,” Robertson said. “He played up until he was (39) years old. He played the game the right way.”
Rose was traveling to Wichita on Tuesday and was unavailable for comment.
In 2006, Rose pleaded guilty to drug distribution charges for providing teammates in the 1990s with GBL, a drug that could be used as a steroid alternative. He spent a month in federal prison and was placed on house arrest following the 2006 season, which Rose spent with Bridgeport (Md.) of the Atlantic League.
Robertson said he was unaware of Rose’s past legal issues, but thinks Rose has moved past his trouble.
“Of course it’s behind him, it was (10) years ago,” Robertson said. “He made a mistake.”
Pete Rose Sr., who made a promotional visit to Lawrence-Dumont Stadium last season, was permanently suspended by Major League Baseball in 1989 for gambling on baseball while he was manager of the Reds.
Rose Jr. acknowledged using performance-enhancing drugs to recover from knee surgery in the 1990s, and that he provided drugs for two Chattanooga teammates.
“From 1 to 30 in this case, I was 30 (in terms of involvement),” Rose Jr. told ESPN.com in 2006. “But now all of a sudden, they have a name in their investigation and case. There was no reason to come after me. There was no reason to send me to jail for 30 days. I wasted taxpayers’ money.
“What did that do? Nothing. But I did it and I am accepting responsibility. But the whole thing is, I’m not a shady person. I never have been. I never will be.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Pete Rose Jr. to become Wingnuts’ manager."