SMILE, SWEETHEART

Pete Rose Shrugs Off Stat Rape Questions at Phillies Fete: ‘It Was 55 Years Ago, Babe’

Pete Rose brushed off questions surrounding allegations in a 2017 lawsuit of having a sexual relationship with an underage girl in the 1970s.

At a celebration of Philadelphia’s 1980 World Series team on Sunday, former professional baseball player Pete Rose sidestepped questions to do with a woman’s allegation that he’d had sex with her when she was a minor in the 1970s. “It was 55 years ago, babe,” the one–time Phillie, 81, told a female reporter who approached him about the statutory rape allegation, which first surfaced in a 2017 lawsuit. The journalist, Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, tweeted that Rose later asked if she’d forgive him if he signed “1000 baseballs for you” before finally saying “sorry.” Rose, also known for his time on the Cincinnati Reds, later rebuffed an Associated Press reporter with similar questions. “Who cares what happened 50 years ago?” he demanded, according to the Inquirer. “You weren’t even born. So you shouldn’t be talking about it, because you weren’t born. If you don’t know a damn thing about it, don’t talk about it.”