The world is Pete Rose’s locker room – at least it seemed that way Saturday night before a half-full Savannah Center. It was called “An Evening With Pete Rose Live.”
This was Pete Rose unplugged – sitting in an easy chair and shooting the breeze about baseball, life and bawdy good times. Rose came across as a rambunctious, rambling, gambling man. At times he used salty language and told off-color jokes.
The man who was banned from the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame for gambling played more big league games (3,562) and had more hits (4,256) than anyone in history.
He’ll never see his plaque in the Hall of Fame but a defiant Rose could care less – and he flaunted his gambling habits throughout the evening.
“Forget about that Hall of Fame. I’m in the (Cincinnati) Reds Hall of Fame, and that’s what matters,” Rose said early on, earning loud cheers from the crowd.
He reminisced about his nearly three decades in the big leagues, detailing his accomplishments and confessing his faults.
“I had some good times in Philadelphia,” Rose, 77, said of his time with the Phillies. “We went to the World Series and I bet on the Eagles.”
His “show” featured video clips and still pictures. A highlight came when Maestro Bill Doherty opened the program by singing the national anthem.
Then Rose appeared on stage with a co-host.
Rose would often stand up and tell stories. He came across as sort of a jock version of Will Ferrell – the kind of wise guy who would slap you with a towel in the shower or share a joke and a beer at the bar.
Rose talked about growing up in Cincinnati and hanging out with another guy who made it to the Major Leagues – the late Don Zimmer.
“Don’s dad was a big gambler,” Rose said. “That’s where all that (stuff) started (with me).”
The biggest influence in his life was his father, Harry.
“There’s only one guy I idolized, and that was my dad,” Rose said. “He was my mentor; the perfect guy to make me the ballplayer I became.”
He said his dad told him: “Don’t ever embarrass me” on a baseball field.
“That’s why I always played so hard,” Rose said.
It was Mickey Mantle who dubbed Rose with the nickname “Charlie Hustle.”
“It was 1963, my rookie year, and we were playing the Yankees in spring training,” Rose said. “I came in as a pinch runner. I slid, head first, into third base. Then a guy hit a pop up that the shortstop (Tony Kubek) caught. I ran to home and slid head first. We won the game.
“After the game, Mantle told reporters, ‘Did you see that Charlie Hustle beat us today?’ The next day the headline in the papers was: Charlie Hustle Beats Yankees.”
Rose talked about another famous Yankee, Joe DiMaggio. Rose and DiMaggio made a goodwill tour of Vietnam during the late 1960s, visiting U.S. troops.
“We’re in the jungle and Joe wanted to take a shower,” Rose said. “I said, ‘Joe, there’s no showers here.’ So, I got a bucket and poured water over Joe DiMaggio. I gave Joe D. a shower.”
Rose talked about the Big Red Machine. He said that Manager Sparky Anderson “was the smartest guy I knew. He treated all of us as individuals and he got the best out of all of us.”
Rose said winning the 1975 World Series with the Reds against the Red Sox in seven games was one of his biggest thrills.
“I grew up three miles from the Cincinnati ballpark. It meant a lot to me,” he said. “It was one of the greatest World Series of all time and I was named the Series MVP.”
Rose’s glory years came with the Reds. He played in Cincinnati from 1963 through 1978. He was part of the famed Big Red Machine that dominated baseball and won two World Series in the mid-1970s.
“Johnny Bench was the greatest catcher in the history of baseball,” Rose said, noting that other teammates like Tony Perez, Joe Morgan and Barry Larkin were all great players.
Rose said he played for Tampa in the Class A Florida State League in the early ’60s and played against a team in Leesburg.
“We won the championship and the owners of the team gave each of us a Zippo lighter,” Rose said. “The only problem was none of us smoked.”
Early in his big-league career, Rose used to chew bubble gum. One day a Reds’ pitcher named Joey Jay gave Rose some chewing tobacco.
“It got mixed in with the gum and I almost died,” Rose said. “They had to pump out my stomach.”
In the eyes of his fans, Rose’s stature has not diminished.
“He should be in the Hall of Fame,” said Villager Kenny Kayser, who grew up in Cincinnati. “Pete Rose did a lot for baseball. They’ve got drunks, gamblers and other players who did a lot worse than Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame.”
Villager Charlie Messinger also is from Cincinnati and remembered back to 1972. That year, Major League baseball players went on strike and Rose would work out with Messinger’s Western Hills High School team.
“He pitched batting practice,” Messinger said. “Pete was nice to us – a good guy and a lot of fun. I wish they would put him in the Hall of Fame. He played every game as hard as he could, and that’s the way baseball should be played.”
Brandon Aiello is 13 and never saw Rose play. But his father, Larry, remembers Rose and brought his son to see the famed ballplayer in The Villages. They took a picture with Rose before the show.
“Pete Rose was a crazy good baseball player and I want to play just like him,” Brandon said. “I’ve seen video of him and I know his record – 4,256 hits. No one else did that and he should be in the Hall of Fame.”
Larry Aiello agrees with his son.
“Pete admitted gambling,” Larry said. “We live in a different world now. Gambling is legal for sports leagues now. Pete never threw a game or did anything wrong on the field. He always hustled and it’s a shame they won’t put him in the Hall of Fame where he belongs.”
Tony Violanti is a veteran journalist and writes for Villages-News.com.
