Pete Rose
Peter Edward Rose was born in Cincinnati in 1941. He said that when he was growing up he rooted for the Cincinnati Reds just like every other kid in the area. In the summertime of most of his childhood years he played baseball constantly. He also played in high school, however he thinks that he was a better football player than a baseball player in school. He said that he liked to play football more because many people would attend the games, and not many showed up for baseball. "You could throw a bomb into the stands at our (high school) baseball games, and you wouldn't kill anyone". If it wasn't for Pete's uncle, who was a scout for the Cincinnati Reds, he would never nave played baseball. His uncle saw him play in high school and signed him to a contract with the Reds farm system. Pete started out at the class "A" level. He rose up quickly making the starting roster for the Reds opening day team in the same year, 1963. On opening day Pete said he wasn't nervous at all until about 10 minutes before the game. It hit him that he was now starting for the Cincinnati Reds, when not more than a year ago he thought football was his life. He walked in his first at bat, on 4 straight pitches. He said it wasn't because of nerv
Now, ten years later, Rose has started a website with intent to gain the public's support, and maybe get the suspension overturned, and also let him into the hall of fame. It's amazing that it took him ten years to do this. During his career Pete Rose was called "Charlie Hustle" because of the way that he played. He played a "blue-collar" game of baseball, running out everything, and diving headfirst into bases with regularity. Few players can or will ever match the passion that Pete Rose played with. es though, he just didn't want to swing. He got his first hit in the majors three games later, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Of the 30 people that are on the All-Century team, 26 of them are in the hall of fame. The four players who aren't are Roger Clemens, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, and Pete Rose. Clemens, Griffey, and McGwire can't get in until they retire, but when they do, there is no doubt that all of them will get in the hall. But what about Pete Rose? Why isn't he in there? Didn't the nominating committee see his stats and records? Don't they know that he leads the majors in career hits? How could someone that is so good and clearly one of the elite players of all time be left out of the hall of fame? When you consider the personalities of some of the men in there, Ty Cobb who was a wife beater, and Babe Ruth who used to drink alcohol all the time, you wonder what Rose would have to do to not get elected. He would have had to do something extraordinarily bad, something that nobody would even think about doing, something so repulsive that it got him thrown out of the game for life. That something was gambling. Betting on baseball was ultimately what got Pete Rose banned for life from the game that he loved so much. Betting? That's it? He didn't kill someone or bomb a small country or something? Nope. But betting was enough to force Commissioner Bartlett Giamatti to ban for life maybe the best hitter baseball had ever seen. On August 24th, 1989 Pete Rose was expelled for life from baseball for "off field activity that was contrary to the best interests of baseball". There is much evidence that supports Giamatti's suspicion and actions. It is very clear when you look at the stats and the records that Pete Rose owns that he is truly one of the elite players in the history of Major League Baseball. This statement was confirmed by the induction of Pete Rose to baseball's All-Century team (1999). Pete Rose's name is now listed with 30 other baseball greats on that team. When you consider how good all of the other players on the team are, you realize what kind of career Pete Rose had. Whether Bart Giamatti wanted to keep Rose out of the hall of fame, or just away from the game of baseball altogether is a question that will never be answered. Giamatti died of a heat attack on September 2nd, 1989 just nine days after he suspended Rose. Logically one would think that he wanted him out of baseball for good. Meaning no hall of fame, no managing, and no everything having to do with baseball. But, one could argue that letting him into the hall of fame doesn't lift his banishment from the game, so why wouldn't they just let him in? Taking him away from baseball made him lose the guaranteed salary of $500,000 a year for managing the Reds, and probably another million in endorsements. Why would Rose agree to this ban when he emphatically denies that he ever bet on baseball? With all of the money that he could lose, and all the love he had for the game itself, one would think that he would fight the punishment a little harder than he did. He just accepted what was given to him. That is something that a guilty man would do, it is not something that a person who believes that they are innocent would do. Pete Rose has said "I earned the public's love and respect by busting my ass for 24 years in baseball... I love baseball. Everything I've gotten is because of baseball... Not having a
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2781
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
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