If anyone has been screwed over more than Pete on a real HOF induction hold my beer. Nobody other than Barry Bonds has been screwed out of such an honor. Baseball still remains my favorite sport. RIP Pete.




www.wcpo.com/sports/baseball/reds/reports-cincinnati-reds-legend-pete-rose-has-died

Pete Rose is the real Mr. Baseball. RIP Pete ...

Spladle really losing his edge not titling this rip big red machine...

Oct 1, 2024 13:00:27 GMT @ness said:

Spladle really losing his edge not titling this rip big red machine...

I thought about it but when I went to a cubs game in cincy I had the pleasure of sting close to Pete and came along with great convo and the guy is a total gem. Too much respect for Pete.

I started following baseball in 1986. This meant I had a lot of books covering the 1985 season. That was the year Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's all-time hit record. This meant kiddie me thought Rose was a Baseball God on par with that Bay Bruce guy I was always hearing about. Pete Rose was either the greatest or 2nd greatest baseball player of all time to kiddie me. Plus, the stats on the back of Pete's baseball were so tiny because he had been playing *Sandlot voice* FOR-EV-ER. Plus plus he was a player/manager. The last player/manager, in fact. Can't get any more old school than that.  Plus plus plus he was a hero to dads and coaches (including my own) throughout America. "Charlie Hustle." He played the game the right way. There was nothing little league coaches in the 80s & 90s loved more than a hustler. And Pete Rose was the poster boy for hustlers in more ways than one.

Fast forward a decade. Now the disgraced Hit King is coming to WWF for Wrestlemania. As one who was never keen on celebrities infesting my beloved WWF, I was indifferent at best. But the best wrestling celebrities embrace the role. And Pete Rose did indeed embrace it. He won me over early with a pre-Wrestlemania promo on Stone Cold that went something like ".316, huh? Sounds like a hell of a hitter." Gold. Then he cut that awesome heel promo on Boston before getting Tombstoned by Kane to begin one of the great absurdist feuds in pro wrestling history. The San Diego Chicken bit the next(?) year was inspired. Everything Pete Rose did in the Fed was gold and WWE rewarded the MLB legend by putting him in the more prestigious Hall of Fame.

This is pure speculation, but there is a non-zero chance Pete Rose was an actual wrestling fan and even an Observer subscriber. I theorize the latter because I remember Meltzer once mentioning "the Cincinnati Reds have always had more Observer subscribers than any other sports team." I might even see if I can dig up the actual quote. It was from sometime in the 2000s.

RIP Hit King