Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 31, 1995 TAG: 9507310115
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. LENGTH: Long
Even before Mike Schmidt began speaking, the fans were getting loud, knowing what was coming.
``We want Pete! We want Pete!'' they chanted, without any prompting. ``We want Pete! We want Pete!''
From fold-out chairs and blankets 300 yards away they clamored, waving red hats and waiting for Schmidt to say what he promised he would. And Schmidt, so often booed during his career in Philadelphia, did not disappoint them Sunday.
Instead, Schmidt turned his Hall of Fame podium into a pulpit to promote Pete Rose, telling the biggest induction crowd ever it was time to make a place for baseball's career hits leader in Cooperstown.
Wearing a No.14 lapel pin to honor his former teammate, Schmidt twice mentioned Rose during a 20-minute speech. While growing up in Dayton, Ohio, he remembered, his grandmother would always tailor his pants to match the style worn by her favorite player, a young second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds.
``I join her and millions of baseball fans in hoping someday soon, someday very soon, Pete Rose will be standing right here,'' Schmidt said.
Schmidt's references to Rose drew large ovations from the crowd, estimated at 25,000-28,000 and mostly from Philadelphia. Those fans surely recalled Rose's time in town, when he helped spark the Phillies to the only World Series championship they ever won.
``It's great we see eye-to-eye on something, isn't it, Philadelphia?'' Schmidt said.
There were sporadic bursts of ``We want Pete!'' throughout the two-hour ceremonies. They started up again when Richie Ashburn, one of five men being inducted in the Hall, said there were several players who should be considered, including Ron Santo, Nellie Fox and Rusty Staub.
``That will be covered, I can guarantee you,'' Ashburn said of Rose's rooters, ``but not by me.''
But there was absolutely no reaction - no smiles, no hand claps, no nothing - from 30 previously elected Hall of Famers who sat stone silent around Schmidt. And, early in the program before Schmidt was introduced, Johnny Bench was heard to mutter by a couple of photographers right in front of the podium ``you can have him'' when the crowd clamored for Rose.
Rose and Bench, who played on the ``Big Red Machine'' in the 1970s, had a falling out after Rose ran into problems that led to him being banned from baseball, thereby making him ineligible for election to the Hall.
Schmidt, whose 548 home runs for Philadelphia rank seventh in major-league history, was elected last January on the first ballot by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Ashburn, a .308 career hitter mostly with the Phillies, Negro Leagues star Leon Day, turn-of-the-century pitcher Vic Willis and key NL founder William Hulbert were voted in by the Veterans Committee in March. Day died six days after being selected.
Rose actually was in Cooperstown on Friday and Saturday, signing autographs a few blocks from baseball's shrine, but left town about 24 hours before the ceremonies, which were held in a grassy field about a mile away.
As much as Rose admired Schmidt and helped spur him in becoming arguably the game's greatest all-around third baseman in history, he said he wanted to clear out of Cooperstown to avoid detracting from his friend's big day.
``If I was there, some people would take it the wrong way,'' Rose said recently. ``And I don't want to give those people that opportunity.''
Hall of Fame vice president Bill Guilfoile said Rose had been mentioned in past induction speeches, although never as prominently and strongly as by Schmidt. The Hall museum features about 10 exhibits involving Rose.
``Pete's been terrific to the Hall of Fame,'' Guilfoile said. ``There never has been a player who's been more cooperative than Pete.''
And there's no one more deserving to have his plaque hanging in the Hall, Schmidt said.
``I wanted to tell people how I felt about it,'' Schmidt said at a post-ceremony news conference. ``I'll promote it. I'm a guy who's a Pete Rose ambassador.''
Schmidt also said it was time to settle his contentious relationship with Philadelphia fans. Despite being an 11-time All-Star, three-time NL MVP, 10-time Gold Glove winner and the man who led the Phillies to their only World Series championship in 1980, Schmidt often was booed by the hometown fans.
Schmidt admitted he brought some of that on himself with a cool demeanor, often seen by fans as an aloof attitude. Even so, there were no boos for him Sunday, although Ashburn, a popular Phillies announcer for more than 30 years, may have gotten more cheers.
``If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it in Philadelphia,'' Schmidt said in his speech. ``The only thing I'd change would be me. I would be less sensitive, more outgoing and more appreciative of what you expected from me.''
As for any lingering resentment between Schmidt and the fans, he said, ``Can we put that to rest today?''
by CNB