Cincinnati Reds’ favorite all-time great Pete Rose is enjoying the final chapter in the public eye

The Cincinnati Reds continue to honor Pete Rose in off-season events as his statue is being made.

The Cincinnati Reds have a statue on order of Pete Rose to join the rest of the all-time greats.  It will reside on Crosley Terrace at Great American Ballpark.  The statue is being funded from money earned from selling tickets to an interview that Rose did at Redsfest.  The interview is one of the few times that Rose has been an official Reds function since he left baseball in 1989.

The marketing department for the Reds made sure that everyone knew that Pete Rose modeled for his statue during Redsfest weekend.  The sculptor measured everything from the size of Rose’s wrist to the space between them when he held them above his head.  This was led by Tom Tsuchiya, who is the artist that does all of the Reds’ greats statues.

When the statue debuts, it will be the third time within one year that MLB will bring Rose to GABP officially.  Last season, Rose came back for the Reds’ Hall of Fame induction.  He also returned when they retired his iconic number 14.  Rose’s name links to the Big Red Machine in as many ways as possible.

Johnny Bench, Ted Kluszewski, Ed Lombardi, Joe Morgan, Joe Nuxhall, Tony Perez, and Frank Robinson are the other players with statues at GABP.  Rose played with four of them and had Kluszewski as his batting coach.  At age 75 Rose is finally entering the Reds’ pantheon of all-time greats.

The commissioner’s office has allowed Rose to have a more visible presence both locally and nationally.

Rose accomplished this by attending on-field celebrations that honor his career as a player.  He joined the roster of FS1, the national cable station that works with Fox and Fox Sports Ohio.  This television position has allowed younger fans to learn about the knowledge of one of the greatest players of the 1960s-1980s.

His position on FS1 allowed him to be part of the national Fox pre-game coverage of the World Series.  Alex Rodriguez and Frank Thomas were comparing playing stories.  Rose was providing insight on how the managers and veterans were approaching the season.

His discussion about managers having a quick hook was repeatedly true in the World Series.  He also has the most watched studio segment of the year on Fox Sports. He gave a hitting tutorial to the Big Hurt and A-Rod, while they peppered Rose with questions.

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Now Rose is getting ready for another season at FS1 and his statue unveiling at GABP.  Once the statue is ready, the Reds won’t have a more famous player not in the MLB Hall of Fame.  Rose will keep hoping for that, but he seems happy just to be at GABP.