The Pete Rose Night celebration Wednesday, May 14 featured a pregame ceremony followed by a game between the Reds and Chicago White Sox. The festivities received a jolt of energy on Tuesday when MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Rose and others were removed from the permanently ineligible list, which opened a pathway for Rose’s possible future induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Francona competed against Rose as a player. Later, he played with him as a teammate. Later still, Francona played for Rose, the manager.
‘How do you know?’ Francona said of possibly being emotional on Wednesday. ‘That’s the cool thing about emotions.’
Francona was certain about other matters concerning Rose.
He conceded he was glad he wasn’t in the decision-making position of Manfred and Hall of Fame voters, but he still indicated his support for Rose’s could-be Hall of Fame candidacy. That’s been a constant through the years for Francona, who has a bat signed by Rose hanging in his office.
‘If he’s not in, there is no Hall of Fame,’ Francona said. ‘But I get it. There’s some things that (happened). I’m glad I don’t have to make these decisions.’
And Francona was unequivocal about how he felt Rose played the game.
‘Played baseball with as much passion and competitive enjoyment as you ever could,’ Francona said. ‘You wanted to be on his team.’
Even if Francona doesn’t produce an outward display of emotion, he said he was grateful to be at Great American Ball Park for Wednesday’s events.
‘I’m honored I can be here,’ Francona said. ‘I will be honored to be out there and watch.’
The Rose family will more than likely be glad Francona is there to watch
Following the re-dedication of Pete Rose Field at Boldface Park Wednesday, Pete Rose Jr. said his father loved Francona.
‘They were teammates. My dad brought ‘Tito’ here to be part of the Reds when my dad was here. I played a little bit for Tito with the White Sox. Great Person. Always treated dad (great) and spoke great of dad, and did the same obviously with Tito.
‘He’s always spoke well of dad and he’s always had his opinion. I think if you’d come in contact with dad the way Tito did and the way other guys did, you would probably say the same thing that Tito does because my dad took care of everybody. He was a great teammate, and there’s a thing that really resonates with a lot of people − how good of a teammate he was.’