July 16, 201412 yr hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahaha Not even the biggest Rose fan in the world, but get real. He wasn't fast, ok arm, not very strong, ok glove, but he was great at making contact. As an overall baseball talent, he was average.
July 17, 201412 yr Pete wanted to be at the plate with runners on first and second and down a run in the bottom of the 9th. Pete worked at his craft. He wasn't the best outfielder but somehow won a Gold Glove. He wasn't the best third baseman but somehow got in the head of the Yankees. He wasn't the best first baseman but somehow was there to catch a dropped foul ball in the World Series. I think that hurt him as a manager because some players did not have the zest for the game that he did.
July 17, 201412 yr He wasn't fast, ok arm, not very strong, ok glove, but he was great at making contact. As an overall baseball talent, he was average. 17× All-Star (1965, 1967–1971, 1973–1982, 1985) 3× World Series champion (1975, 1976, 1980) NL MVP (1973) World Series MVP (1975) NL Rookie of the Year (1963) 2× Gold Glove Award (1969, 1970) Silver Slugger Award (1981) Roberto Clemente Award (1976) 3× NL batting champion (1968, 1969, 1973) Major League Baseball All-Century Team MLB Records 4,256 career hits 3,215 career singles 3,562 career games played 14,053 career at-bats Yup, average.
July 17, 201412 yr 17× All-Star (1965, 1967–1971, 1973–1982, 1985) 3× World Series champion (1975, 1976, 1980) NL MVP (1973) World Series MVP (1975) NL Rookie of the Year (1963) 2× Gold Glove Award (1969, 1970) Silver Slugger Award (1981) Roberto Clemente Award (1976) 3× NL batting champion (1968, 1969, 1973) Major League Baseball All-Century Team MLB Records 4,256 career hits 3,215 career singles 3,562 career games played 14,053 career at-bats Yup, average. He's even admitted he wasn't talented, he really only had 1 tool that he was great at. So yes I still stand overall he was average. But the way he hustled and played the game made him great. When you put him with the greats in the game I wouldn't even have him in the top 15.
July 17, 201412 yr Author OK, keeping in mind these traits as characteristics of Peter Edward Rose the player, I think it would also be fair to say that he applied most, if not all, of those traits into how he operated as a manager and a gambler, right? Gimme some feedback on how these aforementioned traits have been used by Pete to advance — and, also, sabotage his career. OK, Pete's relative talent level is not what I'm driving at here. That's for another topic thread. Let's hear some feedback as to how Pete applied his most famous traits as a player to his life as a manager and gambler.
July 17, 201412 yr OK, Pete's relative talent level is not what I'm driving at here. That's for another topic thread. Let's hear some feedback as to how Pete applied his most famous traits as a player to his life as a manager and gambler. He loved winning and always bet the Reds to win.
July 17, 201412 yr OK, Pete's relative talent level is not what I'm driving at here. That's for another topic thread. Let's hear some feedback as to how Pete applied his most famous traits as a player to his life as a manager and gambler. I'd imagine he studied the spreads and race sheets and had formulas for the bets he made, just like he studied the stats and game of baseball.
July 17, 201412 yr He's even admitted he wasn't talented, he really only had 1 tool that he was great at. So yes I still stand overall he was average. But the way he hustled and played the game made him great. When you put him with the greats in the game I wouldn't even have him in the top 15. FWIW, Bill James ranked him as the 5th All-Time Greatest Right Fielder. (Had to put him in some position)
July 17, 201412 yr Author Goal-oriented, wouldn't that be fair to say? He always knew the score and the next milestone on the ladder, whether as an individual or the team.
July 18, 201412 yr Author OK, it's time for the "Big Reveal." I have a theory — perhaps a wacky one, but no matter — regarding Pete Rose the Man. I feel like it's fair to say that the many traits we have discussed that made Pete a great player were also applied in his post-playing careers as a manager and gambler. I think it's also fair to say that they apply in his other endeavors in life, including his current station as shunned ambassador of the game, through his storytelling and hobnobbing with fans during autograph sessions. He attacks his current role with the same intensity as anything else he's ever done. Always hustling. Always knowing the score. Always making a buck. You could say he's just playing a larger-than-life role of "Pete Rose, Hit King," but that would be inaccurate, and missing the point. At the root of it all, what has always defined him was his stubbornness, his drive and determination, his hustle, and, his interminable will to see something through, always striving for a goal. It defines him not only as a player, but as a man. It's what he is. Pete's been in an unfortunate limbo since 1989. His bust isn't there, but Pete is always around, right on the periphery, whether it be in the discussion of his enshrinement in Cooperstown, or with his actual presence, doing what he's always done, signing autographs and hamming it up with the fans, all the while reminding them that the man with the most hits in history can't go inside. He'll do it forever, if he has to. And he does, just to keep the memory of him fresh, to keep his name always on people's tongues, reinforcing the fact that the HOF isn't complete without him. And I don't mean "forever" as an abstract term, either. Many have said the HOF will wait to lift the ban on him until after he dies. Frankly, I think Pete is going to force their hands. He's so damned hard-headed, I have no problem envisioning a centenarian Pete Rose still hanging out at Cooperstown, signing autographs, posing for pictures, and just being obvious by his presence, in stark contrast to the obviousness of his exclusion from the hallowed Hall.
July 18, 201412 yr He just can't move on from the game and honestly I can't say I wouldn't be the same way. You spend over half of your life playing the game you love and to have it taken from you (as a consequence of his own actions), it would be extremely hard to "let go".
July 18, 201412 yr Author He just can't move on from the game and honestly I can't say I wouldn't be the same way. You spend over half of your life playing the game you love and to have it taken from you (as a consequence of his own actions), it would be extremely hard to "let go". Yup. And Pete's not the kind of guy to just let something go, as we all know.
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