Pete Rose is already banned from Major League Baseball — now he’s probably prohibited from Alex Rodriguez’s house, too.
The legend nicknamed “Charlie Hustle” (that’s Pete Rose for those who went “huh?”) made things weird this week during a Fox Sports MLB Postseason pregame studio show, where he and A-Rod sit right next to each other.
Rose was trying to make a point about how he sees Chicago Cubs stud Anthony Rizzo inspiring his teammate Kris Bryant during these pro baseball playoffs. The domestic hit king said it was similar to how Derek Jeter must have inspired longtime teammate Rodriguez.
“There was a guy [who] wore No. 2, used to inspire a guy named Alex Rodriguez, I think his name was Derek Jeter,” Rose said. “Didn’t he turn you on, the way he played?”
A confused A-Rod replied, “I loved it.”
“Sure you did,” Rose said. “That’s why you responded the way you did.”
Rodriguez seemingly had no idea how to take that — so he did the next best thing to having any sort of reaction, and totally froze. One can certainly interpret Rose’s comment as a slight, with the man who so famously bet on baseball framing Jeter as the superior player.
It’s no secret that the former Yankees pair weren’t quite best friends, and many believe the third baseman was always jealous of the admiration his shortstop got, despite A-Rod being recognized as the more physically gifted athlete.
“You were a great player, man,” Rose said, offering an awkward high-five to his colleague. “You were the best.”
The former No. 13 recovered in time to save the segment this way: “You know what, let me say this. We had that with Jeter, we also had that with Ken Griffey Jr.,” A-Rod interjected. “I knew walking to the ballpark I was going to see the best.”
Good save, buddy. No one noticed.
Watch the video above, and get your cringe on.