6 Comments

Very nice piece on a complicated guy who could exemplify the best and worst of baseball, often at the same time. But you're right, I've got to give him a little credit for leaning into the villain role and embracing it.

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Oct 1Liked by Paul White

outstanding post on Pete Rose Paul. As an a 15 year old Mets fan in 1973 I can still see Rose and Bud Harrelson rolling around the Shea Stadium infield during the NLCS which the underdog Mets beat the Big Red Machine (I can vividly remember Willie Mays Tom Seaver and Rusty Staub coming out to the left and right field corners to plead with the fans to stop throwing bottles and cans at the Reds)

Pete Rose the player was undoubtedly a first ballot HOF player and all he had to do was confess to Commissioner Giamati , who Rose was to ignorant to see was a very compassionate man. Instead he stood defiant and then made an enemy of John Dowd who even the most notorious ganisters will tell you never go to war against a veteran Federal prosecutor.

I'd recommend Keith O'Brien's book Charlie Hustle to anyone who wants to find out what Pete Rose was all about .

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Oct 1Liked by Paul White

Great write-up. After reading you and Poz it's funny that I'm left with this: What a weird guy. Everyone's said everything else there is to say.

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author

Yeah. I didn't want to get into pop psychology too much with him, but the word I kept feeling I should use was "damaged."

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Oct 1Liked by Paul White

Well yeah. Going back to the Baseball 100, I kept coming back to how important decent fathering is. You might be a great ball player or whatever, I guess. And uh…ahem (redacted). But yes.

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I didn’t know Rose won the Clemente award. They shouldn’t have given it to that ass.

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