New York ? Pete Rose said on the David Letterman show filmed Monday that he took “greenies” in his playing days, if only to lose a few pounds.

“I took greenies before in spring training only because I tried to lose some weight,” Rose said.

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.