PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Pete Rose will be inducted into the Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Fame in an on-field ceremony on Aug. 12 prior to the club’s game against the New York Mets.
Rose, the all-time hits leader who was banned from baseball in 1989, made four All-Star appearances and helped the Phillies to one of their two world championships during his five seasons in Philadelphia from 1979-83.
Rose was selected through fan voting and is the 39th inductee into the club’s Wall of Fame.
“I am very honored to be inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame,” Rose said via a Phillies statement. “My baseball years in Philadelphia were amazing, not just because we won it all in 1980 and came close in 1983, but also because the fans welcomed me from day one.”
Phillies bench coach Larry Bowa, the starting shortstop on those Phillies teams with Rose, said the all-time hit king made a huge difference.
“We had a good team, but he was the missing ingredient,” Bowa said prior to Monday night’s game against the New York Mets.
“It will be electric,” Bowa said of the reception Rose will receive. “These people love the way he played. He didn’t consider himself a superstar. He considered himself a blue-collar player that had to work for everything.”
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