The Reds pay tribute to Pete Rose a day after he was posthumously reinstated by MLB

CINCINNATI (AP) — Pete Rose was celebrated by the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night, a day after baseball’s career hits leader was posthumously removed from Major League Baseball’s permanent ineligibility list.

There were chants of “Pete! Pete!” at Great American Ball Park. There was a pregame moment of silence, and a choir from Rose's Cincinnati high school performed the national anthem. And No. 14 was everywhere, from the replica jerseys in the stands to the highlights shown on the videoboard.

It was the type of all-out effort that Rose himself would have appreciated.

“This city was my dad," Rose’s daughter, Fawn, said.

Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin and Eric Davis — who played for Rose when he managed the Reds — shared stories about their former manager during a pregame panel, joined by former Rose teammate George Foster. Members of Rose's family delivered the game ball before Cincinnati's 4-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

“He played baseball with as much passion and competitive enjoyment as you ever could,” said Reds manager Terry Francona, who played with Rose with Montreal and played for him with Cincinnati. “You wanted to be on his team.”

Rose, who died in September at age 83, played for the Reds in 19 of his 24 seasons, winning two of his three World Series championships with his hometown team. His career was tarnished by a gambling scandal that led to a permanent ban on Aug. 23, 1989.

An investigation commissioned by Major League Baseball concluded Rose — a 17-time All-Star who finished with 4,256 hits — repeatedly bet on the Reds as a player and manager of the team from 1985-87, a violation of a long-standing MLB rule.

Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday he was changing the league’s policy on permanent ineligibility, saying bans would expire at death. Manfred met with Fawn Rose and Jeffrey Lenkov, a lawyer who represented Pete Rose, on Dec. 17.

Manfred “was gracious, kind,” Fawn Rose said. “Really gave me a forum to talk about my dad, not the baseball player, but the father, the grandfather and really what he means to the (fans) of Cincinnati.”

Pete Rose Jr., who appeared in 11 games with Cincinnati in 1997, said he was angry when he first heard about Manfred's decision because he couldn't call his father. But he called the change a step in the right direction.

“Hate to say this, but it’s not going to bring him back," he said. "If they would have said you’re not going to be taken off the list, but you’re coming back, hey bring him back. But nothing but positives today.”

While Rose's gambling ban made him a baseball pariah, that was never the case in a city that proudly embraces its status as the home of the oldest major league team. He was almost uniformly beloved in his hometown for his relentless playing style and his connection to the Big Red Machine — the dominant Reds teams in the mid-1970s.

“My dad used to tell me all the stories of how hard he played every time,” said Reds reliever Brent Suter, a Cincinnati native. “You know, never took a play off, always was running hard 90 (feet), sliding headfirst, you know, getting dirty every game. ... This was a guy who just embodied toughness, grit.”

There were long lines at several gates as the crowd of 43,585 filed into the ballpark. A steady stream of fans stopped in front of Rose's statue for pictures before going inside the stadium.

There was a black tarp with the No. 14 over the pitcher's mound as the players took batting practice.

“I remember his hustle. The headfirst slides. He was a person with not a lot of talent, but he worked so hard,” said Bob Wunder, 65, of Dayton.

Wunder expressed his frustration with the timing of Manfred's decision.

“It’s awful. They should have done it when he was alive," he said. "If I was the (Rose) family, I would say ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’ I’m upset that it had to wait until he passed away.”

The change in Rose's status makes him eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame — long a sore spot for Rose's most ardent supporters — but his Cooperstown induction is far from a given.

Rose's case would be considered by the Hall’s Classic Baseball Era committee, which next meets to consider players in December 2027. A 10-person panel selects eight ballot candidates with the approval of the Hall’s board, and the group is considered by 16 members at the winter meetings, with a 75% or higher vote needed.

“I know I oversimplify things. But what Pete did as a player, if he's not in, there is no Hall of Fame,” Francona said. “But I get it. There are some things that ... I'm glad I don't have to make (those) decisions.”

Jerry Casebolt, 80, of Florence, Kentucky, stopped to get his photo taken in front of the Rose statue before the game. He said he was at the 1970 All-Star Game when Rose bowled over Ray Fosse in a memorable play at the plate, and he also attended the game when Rose broke Ty Cobb’s hits record.

The removal of Rose from the ineligible list was meaningful for him.

“It was great to hear the news,” he said. “Just opening up the gates (to the Hall of Fame), but it’s still questionable. Hope he gets in. Shame he didn’t get to see it.”

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Cincinnati Reds owner Bob Castellini, right hugs Pete Rose's daughter Fawn Rose as they meet on the field for Pete Rose Night events before a baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Cincinnati Reds owner Bob Castellini, right hugs Pete Rose's daughter Fawn Rose as they meet on the field for Pete Rose Night events before a baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Pete Rose's daughter Fawn Rose speaks as Reds Hall of Fame players, left to right, George Foster, Barry Larkin and Eric Davis listen during Pete Rose Night events before a baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Pete Rose's daughter Fawn Rose speaks as Reds Hall of Fame players, left to right, George Foster, Barry Larkin and Eric Davis listen during Pete Rose Night events before a baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Cincinnatio Reds fame stand during a Pete Rose Night event before a baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Andrew Scheidt and his one-year-old son Matthew Scheidt visit the bronze statue of former Cincinnati Reds player Pete Rose outside the Great American Ball Park, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cincinnati, before a baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox, Matthew's first game. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A bronze statue and a banner of former Cincinnati Reds player Pete Rose are seen outside the Great American Ball Park, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)