RIP Pete Rose

Never run home when you can dive - a Rose trademark

Every now and then someone whose name was practically etched into your cultural brain comes along, and Rose was one of them.  When I was a kid, and the Big Red Machine was smashing records, every third kid in my school wanted to be Pete Rose. 

I recall my mom and dad driving to Cincinnati to watch them during those crazy, wild days when the Reds were a juggernaut in the sports world.  I even went down a couple times with my dad and the family.  Once my dad and his best friend from the railroad, along with his friend's son, took me all the way down, through torrential rain squalls, to see them play.  It was a little beyond me, since I was never a huge sports fan.  History was my interest even then.  

Yet I knew there was something especial about everything happening. I knew there was something memorable about using my dad's binoculars to see fairly up close (very good binoculars) these players who were household names - Ken Griffey Sr., Johnny Bench, Dave Concepcion, Joe Morgan, George Foster, Cesar Geronimo and - standing high above them all - Pete Rose.  I can still remember in third grade, we had to give a presentation to the class about someone we admired.  I can't even remember mine.  But I remember Cindy C., standing in her Reds jersey and proudly announcing that her hero was none other than Pete Rose.

The all time Hit Champ in baseball history (the most hits of any pro ball player ever), his reputation became marred by the scandal involving his betting on the game. In those days, there was still a residue of the old 'if you do the crime, you do the time.'   And he did it.  Even many fans in the Cincinnati area had to concede that he violated major rules and laws, and that's what happens.  It was sad, it didn't take away from his accomplishments, but he was going to pay a steep price for his violations.

The problem, of course, was continuing to punish him into the modern era, where players may or may not be punished for assault, or cheating, or getting tattoos.  Perhaps someone who sent an off color email twenty years ago will be canned, but another accused by multiple women of assaulting them might go up in the league.  And now, that sports betting is legal and college kids are becoming millionaires as amateur athletes, is this the age that can still hold ol'Pete to the fire?  

Nonetheless, before that conversation could be brought back up, time did what time does, and Pete Rose has died.  Opinions were strong with him, but his fan base and his legacy were strong.  For me, he occupies a place in my memories and my childhood.  So massive his fame that I can't recall the world without him.  But I will have to now.  And pray that he finds some peace that he lost in this life, as well as peace for his loved ones and millions of fans who are left behind. 

The Big Red Machine