OPINION: Pete Rose: There is crying in baseball

He was what the old timers called “a hitting fool.”  His sheer determination made up for his lack of size and skill and caused Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford’s nickname “Charlie Hustle” to stick with him.  Holding the record of all-time high career hits at 4,256, Pete Rose is not hustling anymore.  As of Sept. 30, Pete Rose is resting in peace.  He died at the age of 83.

With the Cincinnati Reds, he won two World Series titles.  Later, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, helping them win a World Series title.  During his 24-year career, he had a .303 batting average.  He also won league and World Series most-valuable-player awards and two Gold Glove awards.

The longer Rose’s career went on, the more obvious it was that he was going to break Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record of 4,191.  After playing with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Montreal Expos, Rose went back to play and coach the Cincinnati Reds.  During a home game against the San Diego Padres on Sept. 11,1985, and with his mother cheering in the stands, Rose hit a clean single in the first inning to break Cobb’s record.  The crowd erupted.  The game stopped for an eight-minute ovation, and fireworks filled the sky.  Owner Marge Schott came out on the field, hugged Rose and presented him with a red corvette with the license plate:  PR 4192.  His son, Pete ‘Petey’ Rose, Jr. who was a bat-boy that night, ran out of the dugout and bear-hugged his dad.  They both stood there crying.

When I got a text a from a friend that Pete Rose had died, my heart sank.  I immediately thought about Sparky Anderson’s Big Red Machine of the 1970s and how I rooted for the likes of his teammates—Tom Seaver, Johnny Bench, Ken Griffey, George Foster and others.  

Moreover, I thought about that summer night back in 1978 when I went to bed crying.  Pete Rose had a hitting streak of 44 consecutive games.  He was making a run at Joe DiMaggio’s record 56-game hitting streak.  And with all my might I wanted Rose to break that record.  When you’re 8 years old, your whole world revolves around what guys in the big leagues do.  The Reds were playing the Atlanta Braves.  It was the bottom of the ninth inning, the Braves led 16-4, and the side-armed pitcher was Gene Garber.  Later, Rose would say “I was a little surprised that with a game that was 16-4, he pitched me like it was the seventh game of the World Series.  I guess he thought it was Joe DiMaggio up there.”  

After pushing a bunt foul, Rose took a couple of balls.  Then Garber got him to foul another off.  The count was 2-2.  Instead of a fastball, Garber threw a change up that broke out of the zone.  Rose swung at it, ended the game, and the streak stopped.  Rose was furious at Garber and never forgave him for throwing him a changeup.  Years later, Rose was still complaining on talk radio about not getting “an honest shot to catch DiMaggio.”

I didn’t like Gene Garber that night back in 1978.  He ruined my world.

In the 1992 American Sports Drama , A League of Their Own, Tom Hanks famously yelled, “There’s no crying in baseball.”

Well, back in the day, Pete Rose proved to Petey and me that there is crying in baseball.

Todd E. Brady serves as Staff Chaplain and Advanced Funeral Planner at Arrington Funeral Directors.  He and his wife, Amy have five sons.  You may write to him at tbrady@afgemail.net.