What the heck were the Cincinnati Reds thinking when they allowed Pete Rose to become the first person to take batting practice at the construction site for the team's new Great American Ballpark?

	Pete Rose donned a different kind of batting helmet at Great American Ballpark.

A. They heard Bud Selig had said Pete would only get back into a big-league ballpark "over my dead body."

B. Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Joe Morgan all have lives.

C. Rose has played almost as many games as Ken Griffey Jr. over the last few months -- and he's much more popular with Reds fans.

D. They really wanted to see how he would fit that awful mullet under a hard hat.

E. They lost a bet to Pete. (And, no, this doesn't constitute gambling on baseball.)

F. After another baseball work stoppage this fall, no one's going to come to our silly, little new ballpark anyway.