Pete Rose dead at age 83

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a great player - a very flawed person.

when it comes to the Hall of Fame, I take a pretty tough stance. Rose bet on baseball. He broke the #1 rule in the sport - a rule that every player knows. so as far as I'm concerned, he never gets in the Hall. (but if they put Rose in the Hall, then Shoeless Joe Jackson had damn well better get in, too.)

just dug in a desk drawer and pulled out one of my momentos - a scorecard from a game I attended at Wrigley Field on June 12th, 1968. The Reds vs the Cubs. Pete Rose led off for the Reds playing Right Field. Rose went 2 for 4 at the plate. (my scorekeeping skills at age 13 were pretty poor).

I also saw him play as a Philly against the Twins in the 2nd exhibition game played at the Dome in 1982. (and yes, Rose got the 1st hit ever at the Dome in the 1st exhibition game)

I tend to remember Rose as an infielder, but checking the stats, he played 1,327 games as an outfielder in his career, split between RF and LF. also played 939 gms at 1B, 634 at 3B, 628 at 2B.
 


That was a lotta hits. No drugs all hustle. The stories of his aggressive base running were 2nd only to ty cobb
 






















Pete Rose's last All Star Game appearance was in 1985 at the HHH Dome.

I was at the Dome for the 1982 Exhibition against the Phillies. In the early 2010s I was walking through Caesar's Palace and he was doing an autograph signing at a memorabilia shop.

It was towards the end of the night and he was chatting up customers because there was not a line, even those like me who didn't pony up for the autograph. I mentioned I was at the Metrodome opener and on que he proudly boasted, "I had the first Major League hit the there!"

I also saw him while he was still on the active roster with the Reds in late August 1986 at Wrigley as Player-Mgr. He did not appear, other than to make a pitching change.

As it turned out he had already played in his last MLB game about a week earlier.

Last AB was a K against Goose Gossage.
 


The Hit King. One of the best titles/nicknames ever bestowed.

Did he give it to himself? Pete was never shy about his exploits.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
I tend to remember Rose as an infielder, but checking the stats, he played 1,327 games as an outfielder in his career, split between RF and LF. also played 939 gms at 1B, 634 at 3B, 628 at 2B.
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One of his more memorable games as an outfielder was game 3 of the 1973 NLCS. After brawling with Bud Harrelson, a favorite of Mets fans, he went out to LF and had so much stuff thrown at him that there was a possibility of the game being forfeited. Unlike Twins fans, who just threw hot dogs at Knoblauch, the debris thrown at Rose by New Yorkers included booze bottles.
 

I remember one of his many all-star games. He was at 1B and Fernando Valenzuela was pitching. Fernando was a rookie who didn't speak a lick of English. There was a tap hit and Fernando made a heads-up play to get the out. Rose immediately ran up to him and pointed to his head, signaling that that was a really smart play. I thought that was pretty cool since both teams hated each other.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
The Hit King. One of the best titles/nicknames ever bestowed.

Did he give it to himself? Pete was never shy about his exploits.
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As for this Rose's enshrinement to Cooperstown, I would vote, No.

I do think it's a shame that his name was never put on the ballot to let the Baseball Writers decide, as they were allowed with Barry Bonds & Roger Clemons.
 

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