Great old Reds photo

[cumberlandreds]

I thought I read somewhere that Heffner basically told him he was playing 3rd instead of asking like Sparky did.

That may have been in "The Machine". It seems like I remember Sparky was hesitant to ask because of that incident. But when he did ask, Rose basically said no problem and the rest was history.

[RedsBaron]

I thought I read somewhere that Heffner basically told him he was playing 3rd instead of asking like Sparky did.

I've read that in various sources over the years. Heffner told Rose to play third and Rose pouted. Sparky asked Rose to play third and he cheerfully did so. Of course Rose was a nearly a decade older when he made the move to third in 1975 ( I started to type that Rose was more mature, but I'm not sure Rose ever did mature ).

[Hoosier Red]

That may have been in "The Machine". It seems like I remember Sparky was hesitant to ask because of that incident. But when he did ask, Rose basically said no problem and the rest was history.

I'd like to hear from people who weren't Reds fans in the 70's but I imagine the core of the Big Red Machine saw their window closing just as surely as Sparky did.

Of course opinions may not have formed every 30 seconds with less information overload back in the day. But I wonder if by 1975 Rose, Morgan, Bench etc were more willing to do whatever was needed to win in order to keep their reputations high if for nothing else.

I'm not sure if Rose or Bench would have appreciated being known as the regular season juggarnaughts that couldn't win when the pressure was on.

Plus, Pete may have matured some from 1964 to 1975. But I don't know why he would have stopped maturing in 1975.

[George Anderson]

I am being dead serious when I say Pete was probally frustrated because the 75' team struggled early on and he was tired of losing money betting on the Reds to win . I am guessing he felt moving Foster into the lineup would boost the teams chances and of course his chances on wagering. To the best of my knowledge he wasn't betting on baseball back in 65.

One thing for sure when questioning Pete, just follow the money

[pedro]

I am being dead serious when I say Pete was probally frustrated because the 75' team struggled early on and he was tired of losing money betting on the Reds to win . I am guessing he felt moving Foster into the lineup would boost the teams chances and of course his chances on wagering. To the best of my knowledge he wasn't betting on baseball back in 65.

One thing for sure when questioning Pete, just follow the money

IIRC he was told by Bowie Kuhn as early as 1970 to stop associating with gamblers.

[westofyou]

IIRC he was told by Bowie Kuhn as early as 1970 to stop associating with gamblers.

Harry Fitzgibbons, former FBI agent who worked for MLB, his 1st job after dealing with Denny McClain (IIRC) was to document the activities of Peter Edward Rose

[westofyou]

To the best of my knowledge he wasn't betting on baseball back in 65.

One thing for sure when questioning Pete, just follow the money

In 1964 Pete was asked by Hutch to quit spending so much time at the racetrack, which BTW was where he met his wife.

[George Anderson]

In 1964 Pete was asked by Hutch to quit spending so much time at the racetrack, which BTW was where he met his wife.

Any idea when he began wagering on baseball though?

[westofyou]

Any idea when he began wagering on baseball though?

Not really, however when discussing signing Rose prior to 1978 the team executives pondered the possibility that he could get his legs broken for his deeds, and thus squirrel the deal. Apparently Pete was not the best client and was often being looked for to pay up on the losses.

[traderumor]

In 1964 Pete was asked by Hutch to quit spending so much time at the racetrack, which BTW was where he met his wife.

She must have been pretty fast to keep up with those horses...not fast enough to get away from Pete, though

[RollyInRaleigh]

Shouldn't Maloney have his glove hand tucked in for proper mechanics?

That's one of those, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," things. Can't put everyone in a box. Still rings true today.