(Been on vacation for a bit to Hyannis. Unfortunately, it was after the Cape Code League had concluded so no games to attend or caps to purchase, although I was able to get a Harbor Hawks t-shirt.)
Naturally the opening page for the Cincinnati Enquirer is all about Rose, and rightly so. (Those stories will probably be gone after a day or so.) I feel badly for the Hit King, but at the same time, he brought all these problems on himself by continually lying about his baseball gambling. Based on his stats, I believe he’s a Hall of Famer, but his denials costs him dearly and he spent ever since lobbying to reinstatement.
I often wonder about the first lines in a player’s obituary. In fact, I’m working on a project about that topic from the pages of The New York Times. Here’s their online intro for Rose, written by Bruce Weber: “Pete Rose, one of baseball’s greatest players and most confounding characters, who earned glory as the game’s hit king and shame as a gambler and dissembler, died on Monday. He was 83. ”
There have been numerous books about Rose, his successes on the field but perhaps more notably,his rise and fall.
Rose himself published several “memoirs” of various veracity, including Pete Rose: My Story (with Roger Kahn, 1989); My Prison Without Bars (with Rick Hill, 2014; here’s my review for Bookreporter.com); Play Hungry: The Making of a Baseball Player (2019; my review); and Charlie Hustle (with Bob Hurtzel, 1975). I interviewed Kostya Kennedy for Pete Rose: An American Dilemma, which won the author a CASEY Award from Spitball Magazine. I also reviewed Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien (link here).
Then there was the recent four-part documentary on HBO, Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose.
I find this image representative of Rose’s playing career
I’m willing to bet cash money that this week’s Baseball Best-Sellers entry will feature several titles about Rose. That is, unless the news wears off pretty quickly.
is available on Amazon.com,
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