Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell sidesteps Pete Rose question: 'Not where my mind is'

ST. LOUIS — Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell grew up in big-league clubhouses, including in his hometown when his dad, Buddy, played for the Reds and manager Pete Rose in the 1980s.

Those were good times, and he enjoyed watching Rose play during a record-breaking career, Bell said.

But don’t expect him to share whether he believes baseball’s hit king and Cincinnati’s native son should be reinstated after 35 years from baseball’s permanent ineligible list for gambling on baseball, or even whether Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame.

“Growing up, particularly in Cincinnati, I just had so much respect for Pete the baseball player, and he was always great to us kids around the clubhouse,” said Bell, who became “really good friends” with Pete Rose Jr. when they played together in Cleveland’s minor-league system.

“He was a lot of fun to play with.”

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So should Pete Jr.’s dad be in the Hall of Fame, Bell was asked the day the Enquirer published a lengthy story looking at the question in the context of baseball’s dramatically altered relationship with the gambling industry.

“As far as the All-Star Game and Hall of Fame stuff, I just don’t put enough thought into that stuff,” Bell said. “And I haven’t researched it enough or really thought about it enough to really have a well thought-out (opinion). It’s just not where my mind is.

“I respect Pete the baseball player and how he treated me. And that’s it. That’s good enough for me.”

Clearly, the baseball part wouldn’t be what Bell means by “research,” right?

“When I think about Pete, I think about my experience with him personally and watching him as a player, and that’s as far as I’ve taken it. And that’s good enough for me,” Bell reiterated. “He’s always been good to me, and I have a ton of respect for him and how he treated me and the kind of player he was.

“And of course there’s that connection to being from Cincinnati and knowing his son really well. That’s what I think about.”

Now there’s an answer/non-answer that voters disappointed with their candidates in Thursday’s presidential debate might be able to get behind.

For what it’s worth, Bell didn’t have much more of an opinion when asked recently who he thought might be worthy of All-Star selection from his team.

Maybe it’s an East Side-vs.-West Side thing when it comes to Bell, the Moeller grad, and the Roses (Western Hills and Oak Hills)?

“That was the constant joke,” Bell said with a laugh, about his minor-league days with Rose Jr.

Both were teenagers the year Pete Rose broke the all-time hits record in 1985 at Riverfront Stadium, with Pete Jr. joining his dad on the field after the hit.

“I was at that game,” Bell said. “Those are the types of thoughts I have. That’s what I choose to think about.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell sidesteps Pete Rose Hall question