If Pete Rose will simply repeat the tone and tenor of his "last statement" - the last minute or so of his ABC interview - he'll have the smallest of shots. If he could cry or just use the word "sorry" about three times per sentence, regardless of grammatical structure, that would help as well.

Jayson Stark's article today is, as usual, dead on. Calls to trusted sources, including "Source #2" on my original story, confirmed Stark's facts and the status of Rose's bid for reinstatement.

Very interesting comments from Mike Schmidt in tonight's interview. If Rose has to "speak to his fans, speak to the Hall of Famers", I'm curious as to when he's expected to do that and if it's on the schedule.