"I bet on baseball in 1987 and 1988," he told ABC News' Charles Gibson in an exclusive interview that aired Jan. 8, 2004, on "Primetime Thursday." "That was my mistake, not coming clean a lot earlier."
He maintained he never bet against his team, saying he "want[ed] to win every game."
"I think what happens is you're, at the time, you're betting football and then what's after football is basketball ... and obviously the next thing that follows is baseball," Rose said. "It's just a pattern that you got into."