Pete Rose took the field on Monday and got an ovation he did not expect.

The most hated man in baseball who has been barred from stepping onto a field and from being inducted into the hall of fame was received well at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati before Tuesday night's All Star Game.

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Fans hummed "Pete" as he walked in field as players from both dugouts joined the thousands of spectators cheering the man who had been expelled from baseball for betting on the game while he was manager of the Reds in 1989.

Rose basked in the affection as he listened to the ovation that lasted for over a minute, a report in NJ.com said.

Fans chose Rose to be one of four Reds legends to represent the team in Major League Baseball's "Franchise Four." Fans of other teams likewise picked their living legends to be their club's Franchise Four.

Rose's dramatic entrance to the ballpark has been described as a "moment of salvation" for the man who has been keenly lobbying his reinstatement to the game.

He was banned for life from the sport in 1989 after he had been discovered to have bet on the game while calling the shots for the Reds as manager. He has since tried to earn good graces from baseball officials, but to no avail until now.

Fortunately for Rose, public opinion has swayed to his side now. Players have been spearheading calls to pardon him, with the current Reds star Todd Frazier among Rose's vocal supporters calling for his inclusion to the Hall of Fame.

"He did a lot of great things for baseball," Frazier said. "Bottom line. That's what you need to look at. The past is the past. You got other stuff going on with the steroids and stuff.

"Jeez, the guy deserves everything he possibly deserves in baseball and hopefully the commissioner starts seeing that," Frazier continued.

According to MLB.com, the winners in the Franchise Four polls showed a good mix of generations spanning decades of the sport where both history and today's new-age, statistics-driven game find a common ground.

"The idea behind Franchise Four was to make the All-Star Game not only a celebration of the current All-Stars, but also a celebration of the game and the greatest players in the game," said MLB chief operating officer Tony Petitti

"We ended up with exactly what we wanted, which was a way to engage fans early in the season but then to celebrate those guys here, and then bring the living players on the field here -- what a great moment," he continued.

TagsPete Rose, Baseball, mlb, major league baseball, Baseball news, Cincinnati Reds, Reds, ASG, All Star Game