Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Hit King

I never liked Pete Rose. There was never enough mustard for that hot dog. He was talented, intimidating and enthusiastic, I'll give him that, but I felt he gave himself the "Charlie Hustle" nickname. Late in his career I remember him playing first base and spiking the baseball into the turf after he'd catch the 3rd out. Bleargh!
I got married in Las Vegas two years ago and was strolling through the air conditioned Caesars Palace shops to stay out of the heat and in this large common area there was some over-the-top automated light show going on. We stared at it for a while and decided to move on and I basically bumped into a folding card table that was set up in the hallway and sitting behind it was Pete Rose! It was so sad to see him sitting alone in the hallway with no one wanting his autograph or pictures. I felt sorry for him and my wife asked me if I wanted to take his picture, but I couldn't be bothered. He was ignored by the large crowd watching the laser lights. I do believe he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, but he's still a jerk.

3 comments:

Mike Rhode said...

Yeah, I never liked him since he ruined one of the Mets' career by running over the guy... boy what was his name?

David Hagen said...

Yep! 160lb. Bud Harrelson.

Anonymous said...

I do believe that Charlie hustled to be seen. I always wished that someone like Frank Howard would run into him. I wonder if people said the same thing about Ty Cobb. He is definitely before my time, though.

Bill S.
The Golden Age of Baseball Cards