Pete Rose's Staten Island bookie ties reveal his dangerous side

Oddessa · 12-13-2002, 10:31 PM

Pete Rose's Staten Island bookie ties reveal his dangerous side

Friday, December 13, 2002

It's the month of September in 1988 and Staten Island detectives are sitting the gambling wiretaps out of the crowded first floor of a Bradley Avenue duplex.

The windows are blacked out with dark towels and the Sheetrock walls of the small apartment are taped full with lists of names and phone numbers and surveillance photos of heavyset men in jumpsuits ducking in and out of sedans on streets all over Staten Island and Brooklyn.

The hundreds of calls the cops overhear every day are the usual, mostly. Tedious, half-heard conversations between broken-down bettors and the clerks who take their action.

Except, that is, for some brief snippets of talk from callers identified by the cops as legitimate wise guys; calls that raise the interest of some veteran organized crime investigators.

"Is he in yet?" the callers ask almost every day. "Did he get down yet?"

To the average citizen the questions don't mean much.

The cops know better.

The shorthand conversations are clear to them. "Has 'someone' made a bet?" is the question asked over and over again.

Someone in particular, that is.

By the end of the investigation, it will turn out that someone is Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose. The same Pete Rose who now wants to be considered for another job with the Reds and entry in the Hall of Fame.

ANOTHER CONNECTION

Want another Island connection?

A small, green address book seized later in the home of Graniteville bookmaker Richard Troy helps to make the connection between Rose and the wise guys. It holds the phone number of a Rose associate in Cincinnati, Paul Janszen. Janszen is talking to Rose every day, and making bets on orders from Rose.

Often the manager is calling in the action from his office in Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium. Janszen has probably been steered to the wire room by a kid named Michael Bertolini, a wannabe hustler from Richmond Valley who was managing some appearances for Rose in those days.

And there is no doubt of the facts.

"Corroborated three different ways," John Dowd told WFAN yesterday. "It's crystal clear."

Dowd was the lead investigator for Major League Baseball back in 1989, when MLB banished Rose for life. The crime was gambling. Betting on the Reds.

And Rose would later be forced to admit to the same.

And even if it was never proven that Rose bet against his own team -- the argument some make in lobbying his case -- he didn't have to bet against the Reds to compromise baseball.

Island bookmakers and go-betweens told NYPD investigators that just knowing that Rose was gambling was enough to change betting lines as gangsters tried to capitalize on bets they made for themselves.

If they heard from the wire room clerks that Rose had bet on the Reds, the wise guys bet on the Reds.

If Rose didn't bet, the wise guys took that to mean the manager thought his team was in a tough spot.

And that alone is enough reason never to allow Pete Rose back into baseball or into the Hall of Fame. Forget the fact that he's a bad actor who has snubbed his nose at baseball since the day he left.

WISE-GUY CONNECTION

Rose, knowingly or not, was working hand-in-hand with New York wise guys when he bet on baseball. And more than one person involved in the investigation thinks it was a lot less benign an association than Rose and his supporters would have you believe.

Dowd is one of them.

Before the game decides to pardon Rose, he said, "Someone better make sure who he dealt with when he made those bets."

And that's good advice.

When the cops broke that case, they arrested made guys. People from the Gambino and Bonanno organized crime families who could have turned baseball into a farce if they'd been able work on Rose a little longer.

If they had gotten the Reds manager in any deeper -- and he was already in plenty deep -- a few guys from a social club on Staten Island might have turned the major leagues into their own personal fantasy baseball league in no time.

With one manager in their pocket, one guy deciding batting lineups and pitching rotations, they would have made enough money to buy Las Vegas before the All-Star break. They'd have put every bookmaker in the Free World out of business by Labor Day.

The game would never, ever have recovered.

And that's enough to keep Rose out of baseball forever.

lakerfan · 12-13-2002, 10:38 PM

This article makes it sound like Rose did well when he bet baseball (wise guys following his plays). I had heard otherwise from past articles. Anyone know for sure one way or the other?

TTinCO · 12-14-2002, 01:37 AM

Great article Joey. I never doubted that he bet on baseball....and probably his own team, but wow......

The Major · 12-14-2002, 01:39 AM

Rose was and is an adict. He was also a chronic loser. Many of the old timers booked his action.

TTinCO · 12-14-2002, 01:44 AM

I wish I had paid closer attention to it, but would someone who caught the whole "pete rose docu" on ESPN please throw out a summary.

I was hopping channels until I caught the "roommates coke arrests"...and I want to say more than one. I really need to see that again....I think I missed a damn good show.

it was the one that mentioned 9 witnesses & provided copies of the betting slips......and he still says no....I've heard of stand by your guns, but there comes a time when you are BUSTED

The Devil · 12-14-2002, 01:55 AM

I happen to have known Rose's bookmakers and they were more like the gang that couldn't shot straight than organized crime........the outfit was basicly Jewish......with a bunch of Italian runners............Every bookmaker in New York that gets popped with an Italian name is Organized crime according to the District Attorneys................the Rose part may be true....but the rest isn't.......

12-14-2002, 01:56 AM

Rose is a piece of SHIT. The arrogant bastard could have avoided all of his problems if he had just paid his bookies what he owed them. The fact that he bet on (and perhaps against) his own team is unconscionable. He compromised the integrity of the game, and, in my opinion, he should never be reinstated by MLB.

The Devil · 12-14-2002, 01:57 AM

and also, they wern't a very large office......

The Devil · 12-14-2002, 01:58 AM

Can't resist......Forgive me.....

He played Black Labs plays a dime late.........[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

count zero · 12-14-2002, 02:30 AM

Wonder how much scrutiny the private lives of the cops in this self-righteous piece of shit could stand?

All this holier-than-thou BS about the integrity of the game makes me want to yak. Our "President" is a draft-dodger and a former long-term narcotics addict; somehow, that's never been a problem for him. But Pete Rose gambled? Oooh, the horror. You don't like Pete Rose, don't elect him to the Hall Of Hypocritical Liars Who Have Enough Money And Influence To Buy Good Public Relations. But stop with this stupid BS about how he doesn't belong in the HOF.

TTinCO · 12-14-2002, 02:35 AM

This may be a bad comparison, but does anyone else think that Pete Rose has that same "What....me" look that OJ has...

OJ needs to die, but Pete just looks like a jacked up mess in perpetual denial

The Devil · 12-14-2002, 02:42 AM

Played golf with Rose about 10 years ago....Granted he isn't the sharpest knife in the Drawer but he was a fun partner..................when it came time for the team picture he was screeming, Freddie come over here and I said sorry Pete I only take pictures with Hall of Famers.......

12-14-2002, 02:49 AM

CZ, you're a hoot. You've got a problem with the poor grammar of the "tough-guy" posters in this forum, but you've got no problem with Pete Rose's grossly unethical behavior.

count zero · 12-14-2002, 03:36 AM

Unless it's proved he bet against his own team, I don't consider that Rose did anything unethical. Stupid, maybe. Against the rules, OK. But when you introduce moral issues, I shift over to his side. Gambling isn't unethical. If you had to bet your life there weren't already players in the HOF who bet on baseball, which way would you lean? This is just another episode in the ongoing morality crusade by one small, pathetic segment of society that can't deal with the fact that the world no longer works the way their mommies and daddies told them it did.

As for your tough guys analogy, I wouldn't attempt to deny them an honor they'd earned because I disapproved of their actions. Loudmouthed fools deserve the same chance at being recognized for their good works as Mother Teresa. Just as do lying gamblers. You worry about Pete Rose's impact on society, teach your kids what you think is right, end of story, and leave everyone else to make their own judgements for themselves.

By the way, speaking of the tough guys: to Mark Del -- didn't see your tearful defense of Italians (and the accompanying Al Sharpton-level assertion that I'm a racist) until today. You'd be able to make a better case for the wonderful generosity and stand-up reliability of your fellow countrymen if you yourself weren't a slinking thief in the night.

12-14-2002, 03:53 AM

CZ, he definitely bet on his own team on some games, which, in effect, is equivalent to betting against them on other games. I couldn't care less if he bet on, say, football or basketball, but compromising the integrityof the sport by betting for or agianst the team you're managing should not be forgiven. How about stiffing bookies? And how about lying about and denying the whole thing? He's a piece of shit in every way.