Chicago ? By releasing “Pete Rose: My Prison Without Bars” in the same week as baseball’s Hall of Fame voting, Rose and his publisher are taking a gamble.

The gamble and its accompanying publicity push might increase the odds of strong sales for the book, but it seems to be hurting his chances for the jackpot: election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

A nationwide survey conducted by the Chicago Tribune and eight other Tribune Co. newspapers this week found that only 72 of 159 eligible voters reached would vote Rose into the Hall, while 76 would not. Eleven voters were undecided and 347 could not be reached.

Rose would need 308 of those 358 remaining votes to receive the 380 needed for induction this year, when 506 10-year members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voted in Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley.

The timing of Rose’s literary admission that he bet on baseball has generated a wave of publicity that would exceed any bookseller’s dreams. The admission also is viewed as Step 1 in the effort to convince Commissioner Bud Selig to lift Rose’s lifetime ban from the game and restore the career hits leader’s Hall of Fame eligibility.

But the timing of Rose’s campaign appears to have touched off a groundswell of resentment among Hall of Fame voters, who view it as another self-serving gesture by the self-proclaimed “Hit King” that has overshadowed the announcement of the class of 2004.

Tribune Co. reporters contacted at least one voter from each of the BBWA’s 27 chapters. Some who indicated they would not vote for Rose cited the timing of the release of the book.

“The release of this book has reminded me that Pete Rose does not like baseball. He likes himself,” ESPN analyst Peter Gammons said. “The fact that all this stuff would come out and take away from Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley shows he has no respect for the Hall of Fame and what it means.”

In a statement issued Wednesday, Rose said he “never intended to diminish the exciting news for these deserving players” and that his publisher’s efforts to suppress details of the book were undone “by leaks to the media.” But media members weren’t buying the explanation.

“This is the most manipulative thing the guy has ever done,” said Bob Keisser of the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram. Keisser said he would not vote for Rose.

Neither would longtime Chicago baseball authority Jerome Holtzman, who has worked as MLB’s official historian since retiring from the Tribune in 1998.

“Absolutely not,” said Holtzman, who has voted in 37 Hall of Fame elections. “I was against the idea from the very beginning. As you can see now, he wasn’t a very admirable fellow.”

Yet some voters were equally adamant in their support of Rose, insisting he be judged by what he did on the field as a player.

Randy Youngman, a columnist for the Orange County (Calif.) Register, said he would vote for Rose because of one statistic: “4,256 hits.”

“You can’t pretend they didn’t happen,” Youngman said.