Amid reports that he had bet on baseball, Rose was informally questioned in February 1989 by Commissioner of Baseball Peter Ueberroth and NL President Bart Giamatti. Rose vehemently denied the allegations. By this time, MLB owners had elected Giamatti to succeed Ueberroth, and the outgoing Commissioner decided to leave the matter to be dealt with by his successor. In the meantime, "Sports Illustrated" gave the public their first detailed report of the allegations that Rose had placed bets on baseball games on March 21, 1989, in the cover story of the issue dated April 3, 1989. Giamatti assumed office as the seventh Commissioner of Baseball on April 1. Three days later, lawyer John M. Dowd was retained to investigate the charges against Rose.