Pete Rose Jr. gets outta the way, lets ’em play

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This article was published 18/09/2016 (3330 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WICHITA, Kan — Some managers will spend countless hours poring over every available statistic, hoping to find even the tiniest advantage that might put their team over the edge.

Not Pete Rose Jr. The first-year skipper of the Wichita Wingnuts prefers a much more relaxed — some may call it unconventional — approach.

“I come in and take the stat pack and put it in the garbage,” Rose Jr. told the Free Press Saturday as his team prepared for a critical playoff game against the Winnipeg Goldeyes. “It’s just a matter of all right, let them loose. I’m just going to write the lineup up and stand over there and try not to get in the way.”

Rose Jr., 46, is known in baseball circles as the son of a legend. His father is the all-time hits leader in Major League Baseball, yet has been denied entry into the Hall of Fame because of betting on baseball.

Rose Jr. is now in his fifth year of managing, after spending his first four seasons in the minor leagues with the Chicago White Sox organization. Now he’s on the cusp of his greatest professional achievement.

“I always knew we had the potential. The only way to explain it is if you are around us on a daily basis, you’ll see what kind of kids I have. I have really good baseball players, but I have outstanding kids first and foremost. Coming out of spring training you knew something good was going to happen,” said Rose Jr.

Rose Jr. played more than 1,900 minor-league games in his career, including spending the 2002 season with the Winnipeg Goldeyes. He calls Winnipeg one of the “top five” places he’s ever played. Rick Forney, the Goldeyes current manager, was his pitching coach and remains a good friend.

“The fans were great, they treated me first class. The organization is great. I love it. I love the town and everything about it. It’s just a great place to play. It’s first class all the way around,” he said.

Rose Jr. only played 11 major-league games with Cincinnati in 1997. He said his father is proud of the path he’s carved out on his own, especially in the managerial ranks.

“It’s kind of pointless to try and live up to him. I don’t try to think that way. I never have,” he said.

Like his father, Rose Jr. is not without controversy. He was arrested in 2005 for distributing gamma-Butyrolactone to his minor-league teammates at the time. The drug, when taken orally, is more commonly known as the “date-rape drug” GHB. Rose Jr. told court he was giving it out to help players relax after their games. He ended up spending a month in federal prison along with five months of house arrest.

Rose Jr. said he’s now working hard to try to pass on the lessons he’s learned through his career — from the good to the bad — to the next generation.

“Baseball is just kind of baseball. People look at me when I say that and they think I’m crazy,” he said. “I just want to help these kids get to wherever they’re going. It’s people first. It’s relationships. If you ask anybody who has played this game for a while, it’s about the relationships that you make. Yeah, wins and losses are great, but I get to touch these kids’ lives for the rest of their lives and they get to do mine.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca