A defiant Pete Rose hit back at his growing number of critics on Thursday and insisted he will wait as long as it takes to be accepted into the Hall of Fame.
Rose's confession this week that he wagered on baseball games in 1987 and 1988 while manager of the Cincinnati Reds has sparked a welter of media coverage and public comment.
His gambling habit landed Rose, Major League Baseball's all-time hit leader, a lifetime ban from the sport in 1989, but for 14 years he continued to deny he bet on baseball.
The volte face has been laid bare in his autobiography -- published on Thursday -- and promoted with the help of excerpts in this week's edition of <
While his supporters believe the 62-year-old should be allowed back into the sport and be eligible for the Hall of Fame, others have questioned the sincerity of his apologies and questioned the manner in which his confession was made.
But Rose told reporters: "The negative vibes have come out before anybody has read the book.
"I'm more concerned with reaction tomorrow [Friday] and Saturday ... when people read the book ... they can make an evaluation.
"You can't make an evaluation on six pages in Sports Illustrated, but they did. It's disappointed me."
Rose was speaking at a book-signing session in New Jersey for the launch of his autobiography, entitled My Life Without Bars.
As a player until 1986, the man nicknamed "Charlie Hustle" for his unswerving work ethic had 4,256 hits in 24 big-league seasons.
But Rose, who confessed to MLB commissioner Bud Selig in a private meeting 14 months ago, may have to wait until Selig lifts the lifetime ban to have a chance of being voted into he Hall of Fame.
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