Pete Rose visits Dayton

It was a strange scene out in Huber Heights on Saturday. Seventy-five-year old Pete Rose sat in the shade of a tent with rock music blaring from a band performing live on a nearby stage and a few hundred motorcycles lined up in the parking lot.

Rose was in town for the grand opening of the Rip Rap Roadhouse, which was another opportunity for Charlie Hustle to add to his bank account and talk a little baseball with Reds fans.

“They are the greatest fans in the world,” Rose said. “A lot of them come from right here in Dayton where I was playing before i signed with the Reds.”

Rose will be back in Ohio in late June when he will be inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame. “I waited a long time to go into the Reds Hall of Fame and it means a lot to me simply because it’s my favorite team and I believe it’s the best hall of fame of all the other 29 teams that play baseball in the big leagues.”

Pete celebrated his 75th birthday on Thursday and there was another cake when he arrived on Saturday. For a guy who played until he was 45, Rose laughed about his silver celebration.

“You just get up every day and something different hurts, but it beats the alternative. I’d rather be interviewed than viewed.”