Charlie Hustle enjoying radio

Tim Graham

Wednesday, June 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

There he sat, conducting his radio show from the MGM sports book, just like he has since last week and will continue to do so through Friday. But no one seemed to care.

Although seats were arranged to accommodate fans who might care to stop by and catch a glimpse, they were empty, save for a few bettors picking at some food and watching the races.

It was a scene unfitting for one of baseball's all-time greats.

Pete Rose may not be amassing as many visitors during his stay at the MGM as he did hits during his stellar major-league career, but the legend knows he is doing the job. Rose's 4-6 p.m. PDT call-in show is heard in more than 200 markets -- but only from 5-6 p.m. locally on KENO 1460-AM -- and it delivers some of the most provoking content in the business.

"I've always been informative, and I've always known about sports of all sorts," Rose said about his show's success. "That hasn't changed.

"I'm pretty at ease. I have an uncanny sense, I don't know what it is, but I can talk to anyone and have them feel relaxed. I don't talk down to anybody and I don't talk up to anybody. I don't care if it's the president or somebody standing on a street corner with a 'will work for food' sign."

Using his clout as baseball's all-time hit king with 4,256, Charlie Hustle regularly draws guests his competitors cannot.

"I use a lot of my celebrity status to meet other players of other sports," Rose said without taking his eyes off a greyhound race being televised a few feet away. "No other announcer can get the guests I get. The people who come on my show know I'm not going to hit them below the belt."

Maybe that's because he has known what it feels like. Despite his greatness, Rose is not in the Hall of Fame because the commissioner's office banned him from the game, claiming he had bet on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. Rose, who once said "I'd go through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball," still steadfastly denies those allegations.

But he can't control whether or not he'll ever be inducted at Cooperstown. That's why he just goes with the flow.

"I do it because I enjoy it, but it's lucrative, obviously, and it helps other things by keeping my name out there," he said.

"I can do something no other former athlete can do. I have a national forum every night for two hours. I have the ability to talk to millions of people every week."

Despite the power he may have over the airwaves, Rose refuses to look at his radio gig as work.

"I'm out here having fun, and anyway, it's only two hours," he said. "I do all my prep work in front of the TV when I'm watching ESPN 'SportsCenter' or CNN and then I make a few phone calls to my contacts. It sure as hell isn't an eight-hour day."

Static

* DRAFT DAY: TNT's NBA Draft coverage from East Rutherford, N.J., starts at 4:30 p.m. PDT today and will run until the conclusion of the second round about 4 1/2 hours later. Former NBA coach Hubie Brown and Kentucky coach Rick Pitino will preview and review each selection along with host Ernie Johnson Jr. Craig Sager will conduct player

interviews, while Kevin Kiley (Philadelphia), Cheryl Miller

(Cleveland), Scott Hastings (Phoenix) and Jim Durham (Dallas) will report on each division's maneuvers. ... For those away from the tube, the draft can be heard in its entirety when KENO 1460-AM carries ESPN Radio's coverage, beginning at 4:25 p.m.

* HAVE A CIGAR: July 13 at 1 p.m. PDT, CBS (KLAS Channel 8) will air the Arlington Citation Special, the horse race in which Cigar can tie the modern thoroughbred record of 16 straight wins set by Citation in 1950. "This is the equivalent of Henry Aaron tying Babe Ruth's home run record," Arlington Park chairman Richard Dechossois said.

* QUOTABLE: Fox baseball analyst Bob Brenly after play-by-play man Thom Brennaman asked him if he was a superstitious player: "I was never a big believer in superstitions when I played, but I always found it to be bad luck when I showed up to the ballpark and there wasn't a uniform in my locker."

* AROUND THE DIAL: Mike Adamle, currently hosting ESPN's late- night X Games specials, is a finalist to replace Craig James as the all-sports network's college football analyst. James now works for CBS. ... NBC cleaned up in the ratings this past weekend with the U.S. Olympic trials. Overnight ratings were 4.8 (up 26 percent from '92) on Saturday and 5.8 (up 32 percent) on Sunday. ... The numbers weren't so good for Larry Holmes' swan song on CBS. The former heavyweight champion only helped the network to a 2.2 rating in his farewell fight. ... Folks at Fox were happy, however, with their 2.0 for the World Bowl.