Mike Schmidt doesn't like the way commissioner Bud Selig has been "dragging his feet" on Charlie Hustle's reinstatement bid for the Hall of Fame.

"The commissioner keeps saying that it's a priority and it's being addressed and looked into, but nothing new has happened," Schmidt, a Hall of Famer and former Phillies teammate of Rose, said Thursday. "I heard him speak about it on Opening Day for about five minutes and he didn't say anything."

Schmidt's remarks, which appeared in Thursday's editions of The New York Times, came during an interview to promote his new weekly commentary spot with the ESPN Radio affiliate in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Rose applied for reinstatement in 1997 and met with Selig last Nov. 25. Selig hasn't given a timetable for deciding on the request.

"There's really not anything new,'' Selig said on March 31 while attending Opening Day in Cincinnati. "We're looking at a lot of things, and we'll continue to look at a lot of things, but I think it would be inappropriate to discuss it publicly.

"I know it's a subject that creates a lot of intense feelings on both sides. I know I've talked to Hall of Famers about it, including Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt. That's one constituency that I have to listen to."

Selig said at the time that he doesn't plan to poll Hall of Famers about their feelings. Some have publicly said that Rose doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame, while Schmidt and Morgan have pushed for Selig to reconsider the ban.

"A lot of people thought I was going to ask them to vote on it, but I don't want to polarize that group, and I know this is an issue that could do that," Selig said. "We're evaluating a lot of information, some that we haven't looked at before."

Rose accepted a lifetime ban in August 1989 from then-commissioner Bart Giamatti, then spent time in prison for failing to pay federal taxes. He acknowledged gambling with bookmakers, but denied betting on baseball.

Schmidt, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1995, was not present at the Selig-Rose November meeting but said he was in contact with Rose at the time.

"Everyone says it's moving forward," Schmidt said. "I am optimistic that Pete Rose will be reinstated this year and will be on the Hall of Fame ballot next year."

Schmidt said Rose was not agonizing about the delays.

"Pete has paid his dues," Schmidt said. "He has been telling the commissioner what he wants to hear and is doing it. Pete is working his way through the system of trying to get back. It's going to come down to the right time when both sides meet and agree to what they need to."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.