An enigmatic Rose by any other name
Pete Rose dead at 82
I’ve already had a couple of people ask me what I was going to write about Pete Rose. I guess I have a knack for writing about recently-deceased musicians and baseball players. It makes sense. Music and baseball have been key parts of the soundtrack of my life so it stands to reason that I would have something to say. Sometimes, maybe something interesting. So here goes.
The problem with Pete Rose is…I want to come to a different conclusion than I do. In a sport full of tragic heroes, Pete’s tale remains one of the hardest to reconcile. The good and the bad are vast and obvious.
There was so much to admire. Through sheer determination and grit, a man of very average athletic ability was able to practically WILL himself to be a star baseball player. He had little power and no real speed. But he had a commitment to the craft of baseball that was unrivaled. He once said, “I’d walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball.” And no one doubted him for a second. In an era where players were sometimes seen as pampered and aloof, no one doubted Rose’s passion for playing a little boy’s game at full tilt.
This iconic photo tells the entire story of Rose. Yes, his vanity led to face-first slides (He once said the newspapers LOVED to snap that kind of picture), but he also did it because he felt it made him get to base faster. Anything for an edge. That was Pete Rose.
One of the more remarkable traits of Rose’s career was his versatility. He is the ONLY major league player to play more than 500 games at four different positions (OF/2B/3B/1B). And he was an all-star at all four! He won a World Series at two of the four positions! His versatility allowed the Reds to work in some great bats (Tony Perez, George Foster) who might have otherwise struggled to get plate appearances in the days before the DH. His move to third base to clear the way for Foster created the 75 and 76 Reds, two of the best teams in baseball history.
Equally remarkable was his longevity. Despite putting it through abuse, he took care of his body enough to be an effective singles hitter well into his forties. His 4,256 MLB base hits will be hard to top. Yes, Ichiro had more professional hits…but if you include Pete’s two years in the minors (which is also professional baseball) then Rose comes out on top again.
To a young man who grew up baseball crazy in the seventies, Rose was a superstar. He wasn’t the best hitter, was a below average baserunner and hit few homers. But he was pure fucking *baseball.* He found a way to win most every time. His 44-game hitting streak in 1978 was some of the most exciting baseball of that generation.
But he bet on baseball.
In an era where everybody and their brother has a Draft Kings or FanDuel account and can quote you the latest point spread on every game on the schedule, this doesn’t seem like a very remarkable thing. Well, it is.
Regardless of whether your realize it, one of the biggest parts you enjoy with any sporting event is the ultimate unpredictability of it. It is unscripted. You may THINK you know how a game will go…but you do not. No one does. It is being determined by a billion variables over which you have ZERO control. That’s a key component of the excitement. The outcome has not been pre-determined by a team of writers, massaged through a team of marketers.
Under-girding this lovely unpredictability is “integrity.” In order to get the maximum impact from a sporting event, one must have faith that everyone involved in the drama is trying to do their absolute best. Where that is absent, there is no “competition.” Then it becomes professional wrestling. Or, worse yet, politics.
Major League Baseball almost died three separate times in the 19th century because of ubiquitous gambling. It nearly died after a “fixed” World Series in 1919. That is not surprising. Spectators wagering on outcomes is one thing. But when the participants are involved, then there is no “integrity.” And thus, no drama. Without drama, what you are watching is glorified calisthenics.
Because of this, Major League Baseball spent decades drilling into players’ and officials’ heads that gambling was a no-no. It was written into every Major League contract. Signs were posted everywhere in Major League clubhouses. Teams and management attended seminars each year reminding them of this.
Even with this constant drumbeat warning about the dangers of wagering, Pete Rose made the conscious decision to ignore it. There is no dispute that he bet on baseball games involving the Cincinnati Reds, the team he managed, between 1986 and 1988. That he always bet on his team to win makes no difference.
Rose *voluntarily* accepted a lifetime ban because he knew the evidence that he gambled on games was overwhelming. And yes, that ban includes Hall of Fame membership.
And to be brutally honest, Rose behaved like a dick for many years after his suspension. On several occasions he scheduled signing events near the Hall of Fame during induction week to make sure that he was able to make his case to TV cameras. For the longest time, he actually denied doing the very thing to which he admitted.
I will stipulate that Rose, evidently, came to regret his actions. For that, I applaud him. It was a long and arduous journey I’m sure. And certainly it was better late than never.
Rose’s hit record still stands, as it should. His name and numbers are forever etched into baseball history, along with his World Championships. He is part of the essential fabric of our national pastime. He will NEVER be forgotten.
But he bet on baseball. And that should also never be forgotten.
I take zero pleasure in Rose not being in the Hall of Fame. But it seems to me to be an adequate sanction for violating baseball’s Cardinal Rule.