Pete Rose dismisses statutory rape questions at Phillies bash - 'It was 55 years ago, babe'

Pete Rose dismissed questions Sunday about his first appearance on the field in Philadelphia since the franchise scrapped plans in 2017 to honor him because of a woman's allegation that she had sex with baseball's hit king when she was a minor.

«It was 55 years ago, babe,» Rose told a female baseball writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Rose, 81, declined to answer any other questions in the dugout moments after a team photo in the outfield meant to celebrate the Phillies' 1980 World Series championship team and other former players. The original 1980 anniversary celebration was postponed for two seasons because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The reporter tweeted later Sunday that, after the ceremony, Rose asked her if he had offended her and offered to «sign 1,000 baseballs» for forgiveness before ultimately saying he was «sorry.»

Rose also blew off another question from The Associated Press after the ceremony about the allegation and his comment earlier in the day.

«Who cares what happened 50 years ago?» Rose said, 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.»

Rose made his first appearance on the playing field in Philadelphia since receiving a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball in August 1989. He agreed to the ban after an investigation for MLB by lawyer John Dowd found that Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985 to 1987 while he was playing for and managing the team.

The Phillies, however, planned to honor Rose in 2017 for his contributions to the 1980 World Series champions and 1983 National League pennant winners.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe in