LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There's a meet and greet booked in Cincinnati from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Friday. You can take a picture or get something signed by former Reds' (and Louisville Bats') third baseman Todd Frazier.
It does not appear there is a charge, although I'm certain the proprietors would be thrilled if you brought a credit card to purchase more than a burger.
And place a bet.
On the NBA playoffs. Golf. Hockey. The UFL. Soccer.
And, certainly, Major League Baseball.
Todd Frazier will appear at the Bet MGM Sportsbook at The Banks, a state of the art gambling facility at Second Street and Joe Nuxhall Way, across the street from Great American Ball Park, where the Reds will play the Los Angeles Angels Friday at 6:40 p.m.
You can wager on how many bases Elly De La Cruz will steal that night. Or how Jonathan India will fare in every plate appearance. Or how many Angels' hitters the Reds' starting pitcher will whiff.
There's more. I've watched enough big-league games this season to understand you can essentially bet on the outcome of every pitch. That would please major league owners immensely because telecasts are packed with betting advertisements. A majority of teams have deals similar to the one the Reds have with BetMGM.
You cannot talk about Major League Baseball, the Cincinnati Reds and gambling without talking about another former Reds' third baseman who would be gaga about a facility like the one in downtown Cincinnati — Pete Rose.
Rose, who turned 83 Sunday, is on my mind because I finished reading Keith O'Brien's fascinating best-selling biography of Rose — CHARLIE HUSTLE: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball (Pantheon Books, $35.)
A new book about former Reds' star Pete Rose outlines his rise as baseball's all-time hits leader and his fall created his compulsive gambling.
It's a compelling and comprehensive 332-page look at the Rise (ACT I); Shine (II); Fame (III); Fall (IV) and Wreckage (V) of Rose's epically tortured career and life as a baseball player, icon and pariah, who has been banned from the game for nearly 35 years.
I'd put this one on your summer reading list if you're intrigued by Rose, the Big Red Machine, Major League Baseball or how clinging to countless lies will unravel what so many considered a life to idolize.
O'Brien illuminates Rose from his days as a high school boxer and football/baseball player on Cincinnati's West Side, his quick trip through the Reds' farm system, his boisterous arrival in the big leagues, his role in the team's dominance in the 70s and his final act as the game's all-time hit king.
Then came The Big Mess, the one Rose failed to admit or clean up until it was too late.
O'Brien is a journalist and native of Cincinnati. He grew up following the Reds, especially the Big Red Machine teams with Rose, Johnny Bench (not a Rose fan, according to O'Brien), George Foster (who Rose sometimes treated poorly), Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, manager Sparky Anderson and others.
O'Brien presents the most complete look at Rose's compulsive addiction to gambling. Enabled by bookmakers and guys eager to live in the reflection of Rose's fame, Pete's issues raged for years before they finally brought him down and eventually out of baseball on August 24, 1989.
Today, baseball has embraced gambling.
Baseball has not embraced Pete Rose.
He lives mostly in Las Vegas, making appearances at casinos there and occasionally on the road, signing memorabilia. The charge for an autograph is typically $99 — and for an extra $35 you can convince Rose to add these six unsettling words:
"I'm sorry I bet on baseball."
Too late?
Too late for baseball and Rose to embrace again?
That's a debate that I'm certain this book will re-ignite.
How can baseball continue to ban Rose while it is married to DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars, PointsBet and everybody else with an app and a gaming license?
FILE - In this July 31, 1978 file photo, Cincinnati Reds third baseman Pete Rose tips his cap to the crowd after hitting in his 44th straight game in Atlanta. Rose says cheating on the field is bad for the game, and the one thing he never did with his bets is change the outcome of a game. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File )
Why can't the Baseball Hall of Fame reconsider its position and at least put Rose on a future ballot, with the stipulation that if he is voted into the Hall, Rose's plaque will outline the rules he violated?
Reasonable questions, both of them.
Rose earned his ban with his reckless behavior, as outlined in detail in O'Brien's book. He rang up big-time debts betting on football, horse racing, greyhounds and other sports. When owner Marge Schott brought Rose back to Riverfront Stadium in the mid-80s, he was betting on baseball, often on the Reds' team he managed.
He stiffed bookies and other enablers, which put them in a position to topple him when the FBI and investigators from Major League Baseball closed in.
O'Brien's interviews with Mike Bertolini, Tommy Gioiosa, Paul Janszen and others from the darker areas of Rose's orbit connect the dots on the 4,256 ways that baseball's Hit King struck out.
Pete Rose brought Pete Rose down. By betting on baseball when he was a player-manager. That's still against the rules, despite the signage you see in big-league ball parks.
Failing to cooperate with baseball's investigation when commissioner Bart Giamatti and his sidekick John Dowd presented Rose with the evidence against him was another error Rose and his advisors made.
He waited nearly 15 years before finally admitting what any reasonable person knew — that Pete Rose bet on baseball. Even that admission was more of a shrug than a request for forgiveness because Rose tied his confession to another money-making project, his publication of a new book: "My Prison Without Bars."
That book didn't pack the details and information that O'Brien's book delivers. This one leaves no doubt about why he had to go, even as it makes you wonder if there will ever be a way back to baseball for Pete Rose.
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