Investigators have been unable to substantiate a jailed body builder's claims that he placed bets for himself and Cincinnati Reds Manager Pete Rose on baseball games, a published report says.

The investigators are looking at telephone records and other documents in an attempt to determine the truth of the allegations by Paul Janszen, a former Rose associate who is in prison for income tax evasion, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported Sunday.The newspaper quoted an unidentified investigator as saying, "Does Janszen have an ax to grind? You bet."

Meanwhile, associates of Rose told The Cincinnati Enquirer that they couldn't imagine Rose betting on baseball.

Joe Kaiser, who manages a restaurant and bar near Riverfront Stadium, said he had placed bets for Rose at race tracks.

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"Pete Rose is no altar boy, but he'd never do anything sacrilegious. He'd never break the sanctuary of baseball. He's never bet on baseball," Kaiser said. "I'd go before a firing squad and say he didn't bet on baseball and if Pete admitted it, I'd say, `Go ahead and shoot me.' "

Rose said last week that long-time acquaintance Arnold Metz, a former Riverfront Stadium operations employee, places bets for him at race tracks. Metz said Rose likes the challenge of betting.

"He likes to win, and he likes to win big," Metz said. "You can do that at the race track, but not with basketball. And certainly not with baseball.

"I've never seen him bet on baseball. It's the hardest to beat. And it just wouldn't make sense for Pete. He's already competitive in baseball trying to win a pennant. He wants that more than anything. He doesn't need to bet on baseball," Metz said.

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