Pete Rose visits Macon, where he once played

MACON - Baseball great Pete Rose threw out the first pitch at a Macon Peaches game Thursday night - and recalled how the team launched him to the major leagues. <br> <br> &#34;Macon, Georgia, sent me to the big leagues. I&#39;ve never forgotten the people of Macon or the city of Macon,&#34; The 62-year-old Rose said. <br> <br> About 2,500 people came out to see Rose, the all-time major league hits leader. The crowd was about triple the usual size for the Peaches. <br> <br> Rose played for the Macon Peaches, then a Cincinnati Reds affiliate, in 1962. The next year, he was the 1963 National League Rookie of the Year in Cincinnati. <br> <br> The former baseball player was warmly received by the Peaches fans, who seemed little bothered by a gambling scandal that keeps Rose out of baseball&#39;s hall of fame.