PHILADELPHIA — Charlie Hustle is coming back to Philadelphia.
Pete Rose, baseball’s career hits leader, will make his first appearance in the City of Brotherly Love since he was banned by Major League Baseball in 1989 for betting on games.
Rose, 81, will join his teammates from the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies, the franchise’s first World Series champions, on the field for an Aug. 7 ceremony at Citizens Bank Park, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in August 1989 after an investigation for MLB by lawyer John Dowd determined that Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985 to 1987 while he was the team’s player-manager, according to The Associated Press.
Rose’s former teammate, Larry Bowa, said on the Phillies broadcast on Saturday night that the 17-time all-star would be in attendance, the Inquirer reported. A team spokesperson also confirmed that Rose would be included in the ceremony.
“The celebration ... is about honoring the team, not an individual player,” the spokesperson told the newspaper.
The 1963 National League Rookie of the Year and the league’s MVP 10 years later, Rose collected 4,256 hits during his career. He spent 19 of his 24 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, but played in Philadelphia from 1979 to 1983. He collected 826 of his career hits in Philadelphia and batted .291, according to Baseball-Reference.com. He helped the Phillies defeat the Kansas City Royals in the 1980 World Series.
Rose has made appearances for ceremonies in his hometown of Cincinnati since being banned, according to the AP. His last application for MLB reinstatement was rejected by Commissioner Rob Manfred in 2015.