Suspension Over, Rose Is Back Today

CHICAGO — Pete Rose returns as manager of the Cincinnati Reds today, though he has never really been away.

His 30-day suspension for twice shoving umpire Dave Pallone on April 30 at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium only prevented him from being in the dugout during games.

“I’ve been at the park every day, seen every pitch and made out every lineup card,” Rose said Tuesday. “The only difference is that I’ve carried binoculars and found out which press boxes serve the best cheeseburgers.”

There are other differences and other aspects of his return, of course. He sat behind the manager’s desk in the visiting clubhouse at Wrigley Field and said:

--He remains critical of the severity of his suspension, particularly when compared to the 4-day suspension given the Dodgers’ Pedro Guerrero for throwing his bat at pitcher David Cone of the New York Mets.

--He remains confident that the Reds will assert themselves in the National League West, though he returns to the helm of a team riddled by injuries and beset, some have said, by a mystifying degree of apathy.

Shut out by Jeff Pico, making his major league debut for the Chicago Cubs Tuesday, the Reds have lost four in a row and 6 of their last 7 in falling 4 games under .500 and 6 back of the division-leading Dodgers. They were 3 1/2 out when Rose was suspended and went on to register a 12-15 record for acting manager Tommy Helms.

“I’m surprised that I haven’t been fired,” Helms said Tuesday, looking forward, perhaps, to resuming his duties as Rose’s dugout lieutenant today.

Said Rose: “We haven’t slumped the last two weeks because of any decisions by the manager. We haven’t executed, that’s all, and we’ve also had a lot of injuries in the month I’ve been suspended. No team can operate on five cylinders. You need all nine.”

The Reds have three players on the disabled list: first basemen Leon Durham and Nick Esasky, and outfielder Tracy Jones.

Center fielder Eric Davis, infielder Chris Sabo and shortstop Barry Larkin each missed a week or more in May. Pitcher Danny Jackson (5-2) will not make his scheduled start today because of a hamstring strain.

Having hit .266 last year, the Reds are now hitting .246 and averaging 4 runs per game. Davis is batting .224 and has combined with Kal Daniels to strike out 81 times in the middle of the lineup. Catcher Bo Diaz, who hit .270 with 82 runs batted in last year, is at .234 with 14 RBIs. Veteran third baseman Buddy Bell, who opened the season on the disabled list, is hitting .200 with no homers and 3 RBI.

In the wake of a 6-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals last Wednesday, Helms said there appeared to be some players who didn’t care. He now claims that he was only saying the Reds “stunk” that particular day.

Nevertheless, Helms’ remarks of that day were supported by several players, including veteran outfielder Dave Collins, who said some of the younger Reds seemed to believe you can win on statistics alone, that there was a general lack of pulling together.

Tuesday, Rose called it frustration of the moment.

“Our problem has been a lack of execution, not effort,” he said. “My guys have been working and hustling. I haven’t had to fine anyone for missing signs or being late. I won’t let that happen. When you’re not hitting, when you’ve got guys playing out of position because of injuries, a good pitcher can make you look like you’re asleep. That’s what happened in St. Louis.”

If it continues, of course, Rose could face more than a suspension.

Unemployment looms. Owner Marge Schott has said that the manager--local legend that he is--will be held accountable for his team’s performance.

Rose forced a smile Tuesday and said there are already people in Cincinnati ready to throw in the towel, ignoring that:

--It’s only June 1.

--The Reds have yet to play two division rivals, including the Dodgers.

--He now has bona fide pitching to support a proven offense, an offense that virtually on its own carried the Reds to second-place finishes each of the last three years.

“That’s why I’m not worried,” he said. “This is a 6-month job. I don’t think it’s fair to point fingers after a month and a half. How many times have I been able to put our regular lineup on the field?

“Sure, we haven’t done anything--yet, but these are the same guys who have produced each of the last two years. We’ll eventually be a very good team. We led the division for 81 games last year. We had a bad August and came back to go 20-10 after Sept. 1.

“You just hope it’s not too late before we get started.”

Rose said he would be more excited about his return to uniform if the suspension had prevented him from attending games, but that he has done everything he normally would except change pitchers and provide dugout motivation.

“I could have cried all I wanted and it wasn’t going to shorten it any,” he said of the suspension. “Life’s too short to be aggravated. I tried to approach it like a fan, to root for my team and sit upstairs with (general manager) Murray Cook, looking for things that might help the team the next day.

“If there was a frustration, that was it. I believe you learn from experiences on the field. I like to respond to situations as they come up. I do my communicating and teaching in the dugout. If I’m an influence at all, it’s during a game. Not that Tommy (Helms) doesn’t do the same things, but they (the players) know I’m the boss.

Rose added that the severity of the penalty administered by National League president A. Bartlett Giamatti failed to consider:

--Pallone’s provocation. “The one thing I’ve learned is that it’s all right for an umpire to poke a player or manager but not for a player or manager to poke an umpire,” Rose said.

--The energy and accomplishment he has provided the game. “People are going to look back and think I’m the worst troublemaker ever,” he said. “Yeah, once every 900 games I argue with an umpire. One of the criticisms I’ve received (as a manager) is that I don’t argue with umpires enough.”

--The inconsistent reasoning when compared to the 10-game suspension given Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kevin Gross for scuffing the ball in 1987. “I remember him (Giamatti) saying then that the most sacred thing in baseball is integrity,” Rose said. “Now he’s saying that the umpires are the most sacred. His inconsistency is amusing.”

The Reds, Rose said, were not amused when Giamatti, citing a rule that prevents teams from replacing a suspended player , refused to let them re-hire coach George Shurgar to provide some managerial experience on the bench.

All of it, of course, is now behind him. Rose said he was wrong to have shoved Pallone and hopes he will show more restraint when he next debates an umpire. He is hoping for a trouble-free return today.

“I’m hoping we have the type game that the people of Chicago won’t even know I’m here,” he said. “I’m hoping Tom Browning pitches the type game where I don’t have to make any changes and I hope there’s no call by an umpire that forces me to go out there with my hands handcuffed behind my back.”