It's a big statement: 35,000 Pete Rose bobbleheads -- meant to celebrate the player on the Phillies' Wall of Fame weekend -- will be destroyed in the wake of accusations that he had sex with a teenage girl.
The Phillies organization announced Wednesday that plans to honor Pete Rose next week were canceled in light of "recent events." On Monday, court documents claim that Rose admitted to having sex with a 16-year-old girl when he was 34 in the 1970s.
A woman says Pete Rose had sex with her at a Cincinnati home before she was 16, while she was a high school student and he was a Major League Baseball star. According to court documents, Rose admitted that he had sex with the girl when she was 16.
The accusation of underage sex came out publicly in Rose's civil defamation lawsuit against John Dowd, the investigator who built baseball's betting case against him. Dowd said on a radio show in July 2015 that Rose had sex with girls who were "12 to 14."
COLUMN: Remove Pete Rose's statue outside Great American Ball Park
The Phillies were going to induct Rose into their Wall of Fame in an on-field ceremony on Aug. 12, but that won't happen. On Aug. 11, the Phillies planned to give away bobbleheads to game attendees.
Those bobbleheads will be destroyed, according to sports radio personality Howard Eskin.
As part of cancellation of Pete Rose #phillies Aug 12 Wall of Fame night , all 35,000 Rose giveaway bobbleheads Aug 11 will be destroyed
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) August 2, 2017
"For all tweets asking, yes, the Phillies will offer a refund on Wall of Fame night and Pete Rose bobblehead night," Eskin tweeted. "As part of cancelation of Pete Rose Phillies Aug. 12 Wall of Fame night, all 35,000 Rose giveaway bobbleheads Aug. 11 will be destroyed."
Several Twitter users suggested the bobbleheads be given to female game attendees under age 18.
I thought they were still giving them out, but only to people 16 and younger.
— Fultzadelphia (@mo__con) August 2, 2017
