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"When I walked away, I said, 'Every f—-ing question was about gambling!' I had no idea of the magnitude of the interview until went down the tunnel and the umpires were coming out and they were livid.... Maybe Jim Gray was right when he said, 'This will be the greatest thing that ever happened.' I was always pretty popular, but it seems like when I'm introduced now, 80 percent of the people don't stand up, 100 percent do.

"Sure, I'd love to be in the Hall of Fame, but I'm a baseball person. I'm a teacher. I want to get back on the field. I don't care how many restaurants or how many radio shows you have, to make the kind of money managers are making now—and I'd be right up there with my credentials—it's a hell of a job."

—Pete Rose, on the eve of the launch of his Hall of Fame Induction Petition at Sportcut.com.