Quote:I thought he only bet on his team to win. Of course, we only have Pete's word on that.

 

I'm torn. Pete Rose was a great player who made the most of his abilities. On the other hand, he ended Ray Fosse's career in a meaningless game. I think his desire to maintain a reputation as a tough, hustling ball player led him to overdo it in that situation.

I don't think he actually ended Fosse's career, although it was a cheap (but legal) shot taken in a meaningless game and it did alter his career.  Fosse continued to play for a while afterward, but the shoulder injury eventually was too much to tolerate.    

 

Personally, I never liked Pete Rose.  I had an opportunity as a kid to watch him play a spring training game.  This was late in his career.  A bunch of kids from my athletic association went down to see the Reds play the Minnesota Twins in Orlando.  Our coach at the time was a former pitcher in the Cubs organization, and he still had a lot of contacts in the league.  He set us up with an opportunity to get some autographs.  Pete Rose was the only guy who didn't stick around.  My coach, who is still a good friend of mine, said that was pretty much par for the course with "Charlie Hustle".  Meanwhile, guys like Johnny Bench managed to take 15 minutes out of their day to make a bunch of kids happy.  Granted, I was a Thurman Munson fan, but, I still have my catcher's mitt that Johnny Bench autographed.   

 

Pete Rose deserves to be reinstated so that he can be considered for the HOF based on his numbers.  Do I think he deserves to be in the hall?  Nope.  But, I think it would really deflate his ego to be eligible and STILL not get in. 

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