Just heard on ESPN that...

[Scott Douglas]

Pete Rose has passed away.

[KFC911]

Damn .... being a Mets fan in '73, I HATED Pete Rose. The best damn baseball player I've ever hated too....

Baseball has done him wrong imo .... Pete is a Hall of Famer .... or no one is .

RIP Charlie Hustle...

[stevej37]

^^^ Yes, it's true. What a great player...he gave it his all every play.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/report-mlb-hit-king-pete-rose-dies-at-83-231616652.html

[RNajarian]

He was Mr Baseball. They should have removed that suspension for betting. He screwed up but he paid the price.

[stevej37]

Why was he called 'Charlie Hustle'?

"In spring training of 1963, he was sarcastically nicknamed "Charlie Hustle" by Yankees Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford after they watched him run to first on a walk. Rose won the second-base job and went on to hit . 273 and be voted Rookie of the Year."

[Jeff Higgins]

RIP, Mr. Rose. You were one of the very, very few baseball players that I have ever respected as an athlete. All of the rest are what Tom Selleck captured in Mr. Baseball - "we're not athletes, we're ball players" You were the only "ball player" that I ever saw break a sweat.

Reminds me of the Dire Straights song In the Gallery. Pete Rose will finally be allowed into the Hall of Fame. Sons of bi1ches...

[craigster59]

RIP Pete. Being an A's fan I hated but respected you guys. The Big Red Machine.

If you haven't seen this yet, it's a great series. I think he should be a HOF'er, some not so much. To each their own. Slide into Heaven head first Pete!

https://www.imdb.com/video/vi976209433/?ref_=tt_vi_t_1

[L8Brakr]

In the mid/late-1990's I used to have the good fortune to watch Miami Dolphins home games from the Hooters Corporate Box (a double-sized suite). There were typically a number of retired Dolphins and other pro-sports jocks hanging around.

It was a December night game with the Buffalo Bills....Larry Czonka, Mercury Morris, and the usual crowd were there. But surprise, Pete Rose was also attending that night. We didn't bother him, but he noticed we were often betting on just about anything.....next play pass or run, first down or punt, next TD, etc. Very small stakes....all in fun, with the top corporate Hooters JumpStarters joining in the fun.

The JumpStarter catering to Pete, said "he wants in"....we said sure and he joined our little party. It was funny because he was coming out of the initial gambling scandal, but we had a great time with our $1, $5, and $10 prop bets. I kept a couple of bills that I had asked Pete to sign when I won against him.....he was happy to oblige and we all had a good laugh. They are packed away somewhere in storage after several subsequent moves.

RIP Pete......you should be in the Hall of Fame.

oh...and FYI.....JumpStarters was the corporate slang for the very top-notch Hooters corporate/south Florida staff who would travel to new franchises and teach the local hires for 2-4 weeks how to properly wear the uniform, pour the pitchers....take orders.....generally work their customers, etc.

[red 928]

in 1919, the white sox were accused of throwing
the world series because of gambling and for the mob.
the scandal very nearly destroyed baseball, as in no more.
Congress debated outlawing major league baseball.
It barely survived.

In order to continue to exist, baseball had to make damn sure
that gambling and the mob were not involved in
any way, shape or form.

Everyone knew that, it was clear to all involved
that betting on a game was a sin, and betting against
your own team was the worst sin of all and it would be fatal.
remember folks, this was back when gambling was still
illegal in most of the world.

Now time for a bit of honesty, this thread surely could use some:

Pete Rose bet on his own team,
and even bet for and AGAINST his own team when he was a manager.
He BET AGAINST the team that he managed and controlled.
That wreaks of throwing games for profit.
And he bet with bookies who were allegedly associated with the mafia.

He risked the entire game for his own selfish amusement.
His sentence was appropriate and deserved.
It was necessary to keep the game clean.
Maybe to some it doesn't seem as serious today as then because
the morals of our society have sunk into the toilet (no offense) but it is still true.

Even though he was one of the best baseball players
of all time.

[red 928]

PS
at the time, baseball claimed that Pete only bet
FOR his own team and not against,
but the bookies told a different story.
Baseball lied to cover their own butt.

[red 928]

In April, Outside the Lines examined the Bertolini memorabilia kept in the National Archives' New York office, but the betting book -- held apart from everything else -- was off-limits. The U.S. Attorney's Office internal memorandum from 2000 that requested the spiral notebook's transfer said Bertolini's closed file has "sufficient historical or other value to warrant its continued preservation by the United States Government." The memorandum listed among its attachments a copy of the notebook, but a copy of the memorandum provided by the National Archives had no attachments and had a section redacted.

"I wish I had been able to use it [the book] all those years he was denying he bet on baseball," said Flynn, the former postal inspector. "He's a liar."

To Dowd, one of the most compelling elements of the newly uncovered evidence is that it supports the charge that Rose was betting with mob-connected bookies through Bertolini. Dowd's investigation had established that Rose was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt at the time he was banished from the game.

"Bertolini nails down the connection to organized crime on Long Island and New York. And that is a very powerful problem," Dowd said. "[Ohio bookie] Ron Peters is a golf pro, so he's got other occupations. But the boys in New York are about breaking arms and knees.

"The implications for baseball are terrible. [The mob] had a mortgage on Pete while he was a player and manager."

https://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13114874/notebook-obtained-lines-shows-pete-rose-bet-baseball-player-1986

[red 928]

I get the feeling that many professional athletes are
addicted to gambling.
Must be the competitive nature or something.
To me, gambling is a sign of low intellect but they
must see it differently.

Phil Mickelson is another that comes to mind:
He is reported to have gambled hundreds of
thousands at a time,
and rumors are that he had to sign with Liv golf
because he was near broke from gambling and
needed the money.

Phil Mickelson has earned more than $1 billion in his golf career, making him the second golfer after Tiger Woods to surpass that mark.

According to a book released by professional gambler Billy Walters, Walters alleges that Mickelson's gambling losses were close to $100 million and he wagered “a total of more than $1 billion during the past three decades.” Walters also alleges that he made over 7,000 wagers between 2010 and 2014.Sep 19, 2023

[KFC911]

MJ reportedly bet 25k each hole playing golf .... BFD. If he ever bet on a Bulls game ... gone from NBA history?

Pete was one of the greatest players ever.... without question.

A HOF without him (warts & all) .... is simply absurd.

I LOVED to HATE him tho'

Because of how he played the game .... like no other ... none.

RIP Pete...

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by KC911

RIP Pete...

+1

I think, but not sure, that Ray Fosse said "I should have maybe left him a little room."

[Tobra]

Liked how he played, going hard all the time. After that was disappointing

RIP Charlie Hustle

Heaed Mutombo passed away. He buikt a 300 bed hispital and a grade school, named after his mother and father, in Kinshasa, I think

[1990C4S]

I always thought he was a jerk. But then I watched this interview. He was a passionate player and a flawed person.

[stevej37]

^^^ That was a great interview. I don't remember seeing it before.

[Racerbvd]

[matthewb0051]

As a kid, we used to visit my aunt and uncle in Cincy. They lived in the same apartment complex as Dave Concepcion (SS for the Reds in the 70s). Later on I went to university in Northern Kentucky and then lived in Dayton Ohio for a bit in my 20's. Loved going to Reds games and loved the Big Red Machine and Pete Rose.

I was actually at the game on the night before Pete Rose broke the all time hit record. He went 0 for 4 that night and on his last at bat he hit a flare in the same direction that he got the record breaking hit on the next night.

We just watched the HBO documentary series: Charlie Hustle and the matter of Pete Rose. It was great and only 4 episodes. During episode 3 I felt like Pete was screwed and deserved it and was never getting into Cooperstown. In episode 4 it had me feeling sad for him again and that he had done his penance.

I really wish someone had done the right thing and lifted the suspension before now. Sure, Mcgwire, Sosa, Bonds, and others will never be voted in due to their transgressions, but they weren't suspended either and should have been. What they did was on a much grander scale and had much worse impact on the game. And it is part of the reason I don't watch MLB to this day, the other being the back to back strikes in the mid 90s.

Link to HBO's website on the documentary. Give it a watch. (sorry but couldn't find a trailer other than the FB link below)

https://www.hbo.com/charlie-hustle-and-the-matter-of-pete-rose

https://www.facebook.com/hbodocs/videos/charlie-hustle-the-matter-of-pete-rose-hbo/477720758196280/

[911boost]

Anyone wanna bet if they let him into the HOF?

Too early?