Pete Rose on Letterman

In an appearance on the "Late Show" taped Monday, Rose was asked by host David Letterman whether he ever used any performance-enhancing drugs as a player. Rose said he never did, but when prodded about "greenies," explained that he used them -- though they were nothing more than "diet pills."

Well, I don't think greenies would ever help you do anything," he said. "You know, I took greenies before in spring training only because I tried to lose some weight, see."

Neither Letterman nor Rose used the word "amphetamines," which were commonly nicknamed "greenies" at the height of their supposed popularity in baseball. The sport added amphetamines to its list of banned substances last year.

"If I took steroids, I'd have gotten 5,000 damn hits."

Yes Pete, you would have and probably about 700 of them would have been home runs.

Pete's Picks: Minnesota Twins and San Diego Padres.

Rose and Letterman