Pete Rose is back in baseball.
Not Major League baseball, and only for a day, but baseball nonetheless.
The former Cincinnati Reds player and manager who was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on games, will return for one game to manage the Bridgeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League. He will manage June 16 in a game against the Lancaster Barnstormers.
"I'm doing this because I love baseball," Rose told reporters. "I love young players because they bring you one thing you need in sports -- enthusiasm. These young men are here working their butts off. They don't have egos -- they're hungry. They run hard and they play hard, all the time."
Rose, 73, played 24 seasons for the Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos and is still baseball's all-time hits leader with 4,256. He was banned from baseball for life while serving as Reds manager in 1989 and a stirring debate continues on his stake to a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame, which still eludes him.
Managing the Bluefish for one game likely won't change that, but team General Manager Ken Shephard didn't downplay the significance.
"One of the biggest and influential announcements in not only franchise history, but in professional baseball in the last 25 years," Shephard told ESPN.com. "The Atlantic League was created to be a league of second chances."
Riding with rivals
Arkansas' men's and women's track and field teams are sharing a plane ride with SEC rivals Florida and LSU to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.
The NCAA, which pays for teams' expenses to compete at national events, arranged for a 757 to pick up the Gators in Gainesville, Fla., fly to Baton Rouge to pick up the Tigers, then stop in Fayetteville and pick up the Razorbacks.
Chris Bucknam and Lance Harter, coaches for Arkansas men's and women's teams, said it's the first time they have flown on a charter with other teams but they have no objections.
"It all starts with the coaches, and our coaches have great respect for Florida and LSU," Bucknam said. "How we communicate and handle it when we're at meets together, our kids see the respect factor and they'll emulate what the coaches do."
Harter said Arkansas, Florida and LSU always get along well.
"We're probably the congeniality group of the SEC," Harter said.
Bucknam and Harter said it's a good idea the NCAA isn't having Florida and Texas A&M fly together to the NCAA meet, which begins Wednesday. Coaches from Florida and Texas A&M filed protests against each other after their runners in the women's 1,600 relay made contact at this year's SEC Indoor meet. The coaches also exchanged some harsh words.
Harter said it would be entertaining to be on the same flight with Florida and Texas A&M.
"You wouldn't have to watch a movie," Harter said. "Just sit the two of them together."
Sports quiz
Q. How many times did Pete Rose lead the National League in hits?
A. Seven. Rose led the NL in hits in 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1976 and 1981.
Sports on 06/09/2014