I shook his hand, got him to sign a baseball for me with his record number of 4,256 hits. A photo of him and I shaking hands below and I am holding his autographed ball in my left hand.

Pete Rose made a high-profile appearance at the Champs Sports in the Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg, Florida, for a major autograph signing on Saturday, March 11, 2000.
The event was scheduled for 10:00 AM, just before a baseball game at Florida Power Park (now Al Lang Stadium). During this era, Rose was a frequent guest at various sporting goods and memorabilia stores across Florida and Las Vegas to sign autographs and interact with fans.