Dowd seeks dismissal of Rose defamation suit

A month after Pete Rose sued him for defamation over a statutory rape allegation, former Major League Baseball special counsel John Dowd filed for dismissal of the federal lawsuit.

The motion filed Tuesday by Dowd, who led the 1989 MLB investigation of Rose's gambling that resulted in his banishment, says the suit fails to establish that Rose suffered any financial damage from what Dowd said last year.

In a July 13, 2015 radio interview, Dowd said Rose's ex-associate Michael Bertolini "told us that not only did he run bets, but he ran young girls for him down in spring training, ages 12 to 14."

In his conversation with WCHE-AM of West Chester, Penn., Dowd added, "Isn't that lovely. So that's…