Reds Manager Terry Francona Reflects On Legacy Of Pete Rose

From their time as teammates, Francona said Rose played baseball with as much passion and competitive enjoyment as one ever could. That made everyone want to be on his team. The amount of hits – 4,256, good for most in MLB history – made him one of a kind, according to Francona, when asked if anyone in today's game reminds him of Rose.

"I mean, there's a reason there's one Pete Rose," Francona said. "It's kind of like saying Michael Jordan. A lot of guys play hard, don't get me wrong. But when you start adding up 4,200-something hits to it, when you think back of how many hits that actually is, it kind of boggles your mind."

Rose stood out as a manager, too, not only because he's the last person to serve as a player-manager. Francona played for him with the Reds in 1987, Rose's first season strictly as a manager.

"I love the way Pete had a way of, he could kind of yell at you without yelling at you. Because you knew he cared, and you knew where it was coming from because he wasn't ever going to tell you something he wouldn't do on a team.

Wednesday also included discussion of Rose's Hall of Fame eligibility, renewed Tuesday as MLB commissioner Rob Manfred ruled that deceased individuals would be removed from the league's permanently ineligible list.

Francona shared his reaction to when he heard Rose's ban was lifted and thoughts on Rose's Hall of Fame candidacy.

"I'm glad I'm not in a position where I have to make decisions like that, because one – I think I was pretty honest about it – I don't know if I'd ever have the ability to not be biased when it comes to Pete," Francona said. "I don't really understand enough about what goes into it and what doesn't go into it. I'm sure there's a lot of things that are above my pay grade, thankfully. But if it gives his family some, whether it's peace or enjoyment or whatever the word is, good."

"That's not up to me. I think those are decisions that – everybody has their opinion on the Hall of Fame, the steroid guys, things like that. My opinion was always I thought – because baseball kind of put their head in the sand back 30 years ago, as an industry we kind of paid a price for it. And I think it kind of puts the writers in an impossible position. That's why I thought, you know, if you think a guy's numbers are worthy, do it. And then if you want to write something on the plaque, again, that's just my opinion. And I know I oversimplify things, but Pete as a player, if he's not in, there is no Hall of Fame. But I get it, there's some things that happened. I'm glad I don't have to make decisions."