Although it appears unlikely that Pete Rose will be reinstated this season, he -- and commissioner Bud Selig -- should get a snapshot of what the nation thinks should happen Thursday when ESPN airs a mock trial looking at "Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame?" (7 p.m. ET).

Rose is serving some sort of "double-secret probation" and is more interested in Major League Baseball's dugouts than in its Hall, according to a report in Monday's editions of The Cincinnati Enquirer that cited a source "who is regularly apprised by Rose's handlers" of his quest's progress.

Baseball, which is wary of reports this past winter that the all-time hits leader had been seen in Las Vegas casinos and that he owed $153,000 on a tax lien on his California home, is using the probation time to assure itself that Rose truly has reformed, the Enquirer said.

Rose denied the casino gambling reports and, through friends, said that he had made arrangements to pay off the lien. The Enquirer, which broke the lien story in January, said the lien was still active as of Friday, however.

Rose will have to avoid even a tinge of the taint of gambling, which was what spurred then-commissioner Bart Giamatti to put him on the permanently ineligible list in 1989, if he hopes to manage again. A dream Rose reiterated on pal Mike Schmidt's radio show recently.

"I want to get back into the game that I love, as a manager, because I want to help young players become better players," he told Schmidt, according to the Enquirer, which had a transcript of the show. "I know I made mistakes. You know I made mistakes, but you're willing to put those mistakes behind me and let me go on with my life.

"I think as time goes on, Bud Selig could feel the same way as someone like you does."

The delay this year shouldn't hurt Rose's chances at election into the Hall of Fame. He still has three years left on the 15-year window for consideration by baseball writers.

His chances of managing again may be slimmer because, as the Enquirer pointed out, many Hall of Famers and fans support Rose's inclusion in the Hall but few, if any, have come out in favor of his return to managing.

One gauge of public opinion will come in Thursday's mock trial, which will include a judge, a jury, Rose defense counsel Johnnie Cochran and prosecutor Alan Dershowitz and will be held at the Harvard Law School in Massachusetts.

The jury's verdict will be announced at 10 p.m. ET.