I think Pete Rose was a very underrated manager. He led this team to 4 straight 2nd place finishes with very little starting pitching. Just look back at those rosters.
His main weakness was a penchant for playing older players but he did improve in that area. For instance he played Eddie Milner way too much when he had Eric Davis on his bench. He also played himself at 1B instead of Nick Esasky. But overall I think he was one of our better managers. Think how good he could have been if he hadn't been distracted by gambling?
I think the only relevant question when it comes to Pete Rose's reinstatement is whether he has followed the main directive given to him by Bart Giamatti? Has Pete Rose reconfigured his life?
To answer that question, you'll probably have to look to see where Pete is more likely to be today - 1) teaching the game to kids on some sandlot and attending gambler's anonymous meetings; or 2) sitting in a Vegas casino, hawking his autograph between poker hands.
Wear gaudy colors, or avoid display. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live. Be like your ancestors or be different. We must repeat!
If he wasn't managing to win, or if he was pushing the team too hard and making costly mistakes, it seems like those things would show up in 1-run games, which tend to magnify bad decisions. However, Rose's Reds tended to have excellent records in 1-run games, thanks to a very strong bullpen.
"I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful
I wholeheartedly agree. After all this came to light on Rose I said to myself.... "It almost makes sense (sadly). That same drive and ego that drove his competiveness on that field, and in the clubhouse, to win, win, win, and was the core of his personality and success...was also his downfall.
He didn't think anyone could touch him.
In that particular situation, I'd have punched Grey right in the mouth and took my chances.Jim Grey stuck the mic in Pete's face that night.
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
Pretty simple to figure out.
Someone drives drunk and injures someone, we usually have them serve a sentence and when they're done, they're given back their life. But does that mean we hand them over keys to a vehicle and let them drive? Not usually.
Someone takes advantage of a teenager because they're in position of authority, we sentence them to some sort of punishment and then they're again free to live their life. But does that mean we give them a job teaching kids of that age? Again, not typically.
Pharmacists that have drug addictions might abuse their position. They get caught and we punish them. Does that mean we let them back to writing prescriptions? Most often not.
This is no different.
Pete served his time. He was punished. Now I say it's time to let him back in baseball in most capacities. But my only stipulation is that I would not let him manage. Just like any of the above scenarios, he had a vice that got him into trouble. He paid his debt to the game, much like these folks pay their debts to society, but we allow them back while trying to keep them from the temptations that got them into trouble. That's not really a strange concept.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
But it's not enough for my father or my grandmother, lifelong Reds fans who followed Rose's whole career, and many others like them. My grandmother is deeply passionate about the Reds, perhaps the most passionate person I know when it comes to this baseball team, and her desire to see Rose honored for his accomplishments as a player is what drives me on this subject. See, I kind of feel like she, and the many fans of her and my father's era, are also being punished here by perhaps having the chance to celebrate Pete Rose the baseball player while they are still alive, as well as while he is still with us.
I would love to be able to take my grandmother down to GABP to see Rose stand on the field and have #14 retired. Sometimes, I think the thought of seeing that happen is what's keeping her going.
My dad got to enjoy 3 Reds World Championships by the time he was my age. So far, I've only gotten to enjoy one. Step it up Redlegs!
Me too. He's all over the place, as he should be.
But none of the arguments that what he did isn't as bad as PED users hold any water to me. Totally irrelevant.
Pete always thought he was bigger than the game, bigger than everything. He did whatever he wanted in both his personal life and his baseball career. And he was indeed larger than life.
One of the greatest players of all time, no doubt. I loved him as a kid.
I don't have much respect for him as a man, however, after all the things he's done off the field.
It occurs to me that Pete has no remorse about betting on baseball. I believe he has tremendous remorse over being caught.
We'll go down in history as the first society that wouldn't save itself because it wasn't cost effective ~ Kurt Vonnegut
"Hey...Dad. Wanna Have A Catch?" Kevin Costner in "Field Of Dreams."
We'll go down in history as the first society that wouldn't save itself because it wasn't cost effective ~ Kurt Vonnegut
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