[Stardust]

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100...rate-4-192
LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. – Pete Rose said he’s glad he wasn’t allowed to address the fans at Great American Ball Park live Saturday night during the ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the night he became baseball’s all-time hit king.

“I’m really glad I didn’t have the opportunity – I’d have probably choked up,” Rose said before his comedy-roast at Hollywood Casino. “You only get to see me cry once (and that was 25 years ago at first base at Riverfront Stadium when he broke the record).”

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The 69-year-old Rose was greeted at first base by former teammates Tony Perez and Cesar Geronimo, along with a few other former Reds players. Owner Bob Castellini gave him a trophy commemorating the anniversary.

Rose said it was a “wonderful feeling” to step on first base at Great American Ball Park.

"I stepped on that base," he said. "I stepped on that base. It felt good.

“It was a wonderful feeling. I was glad to be back.”

He hadn’t planned on doing it, It just came to him, he said. As did raising his hands above his head to celebrate the moment. He was paying homage to the fans, who’d come out to celebrate him and the moment, he said.

It surprised him and yet made him smile when a firework exploded when he stomped on first base.

“It was like it was in the base or something,” he said. “Good timing. The Reds did a great job, and it went really went fine. Everybody’s happy (and) I’m happy.”

Rose said the ceremony was “the most exciting thing that’s happened to me since, uh, since I broke the record. Probably a lot of people at the ballpark were there 25 years ago.”

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Rose said he wanted to thank Baseball commissioner Bud Selig and Reds owner Bob Castellini for making Saturday’s event at the ballpark possible.

“I couldn’t have wrote a script any better,” Rose said. “Just like the night I broke the record. The Reds are in first place now, and I enjoyed shaking hands with Mr. Castellini.

“He’s good. He’s a fan. He’s made this a good ballclub. That’s what I was trying to get across to the people. He’s made this possible. Bud obviously gave the OK, and I appreciate that. He took some static from different people, but it was great to be able to do this. Bob went to bat for me. And I appreciate that.”

He said what made 4,192 seem so long ago was that his son, Tyler (named after Ty Cobb, who held the all-time hit record that Rose broke), was there on Sept. 11, 1985, when he was 11 months old.

“Now, he’s 6-foot-5,” said Rose, smiling. Who was the little guy in front of them, wearing the No. 14 jersey?

“That’s Peter Edward Rose III,” Rose said proudly.

Rose said he didn’t know what to expect from the fans.

“I didn’t expect the nine-minute standing ovation 25 years ago, and I didn’t know what to expect tonight,” he said. “I got a little choked up when I got out of the golf cart (to make his way to first base). I tell you what, wow, this ballpark, and Riverfront Stadium. The crowd – two times, once (Saturday night), once 25 years ago – made me feel like I didn’t know what to do on a baseball field.”

He said he regretted any confusion caused in the give-and-take between his people and Hollywood Casino and the Reds at the outset when the event at the ballpark was being arranged. He was already committed to the roast.

"(But) everybody communicated and we worked it out," he said. "There was some lack of communication at the beginning, but it worked out well."