Happy Birthday Pete Rose

Pete Rose turned 72 yesterday. Happy Birthday to the all-time hit king. Hopefully one day soon baseball can celebrate Pete's career with an overdue induction to the Hall of Fame.

1974 All Star Project: NL Starters

Previously: AL Starters / AL Bench / AL Bullpen

Here are my redesigned 1974 Topps cards for the National League All Star starters (in batting lineup order):

	LF: Pete Rose. Leading off for the NL was the 1973 NL MVP and batting champion. This was one of the 17 All Star games and five positions Pete played in. Pete came to the plate twice in this game, striking out once and grounding out the other.
	2B: Joe Morgan. Joe was the MVP of the 1972 All Star game and this was one of ten midsummer classics he played in. In this game he struck out in the first inning, doubled in the third, and drove in the eventual winning run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
	RF: Hank Aaron. The HR King played in an incredible 25 All Star games over the course of his Hall of Fame career. After hitting the record breaker in April of 1974, the rest of the season was essentially a victory lap through the NL cities. He hit a deep fly ball to left in the first and grounded out to short in the third.
	C: Johnny Bench. Bench was a 14 time All Star and had previously homered in the 1969, 1971 and 1973 games. In this game he got 2 hits and walked in 4 plate appearances.
	CF: Jimmy Wynn. This was the second of three career All Star appearances for the Toy Cannon. He was named the NL Comeback Player of the Year in 1974. He had a single in 3 plate appearances.
	1B: Steve Garvey. This was the first of 10 All Star games for Steve Garvey. He made this start as the second ever "write in candidate" from the fans. He was named MVP of the National League at the end of the 1974 season. Garvey rewarded his fans with an MVP performance in this game, playing all nine innings going 2 for 4, driving in a run and scoring a run.
	3B: Ron Cey. Joining his teammate Steve Garvey at his first All Star game, this was one of the six All Star Games for The Penguin. He had a hit and 2 RBIs.
	SS: Larry Bowa. This was also Larry's first of five All Star appearances. He started at short in three of those games ('74, '78 and '79). He was hitless in to plate appearances.
	P: Andy Messersmith. Andy was selected onto four career All Star games. He led the NL in wins with 20 in 1974. He pitched the first three innings and gave up the only 2 runs the AL scored.

On this day... Pete Rose collects #3000

May 5, 1978. Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium. 37 year old Reds third baseman Pete Rose becomes the 13th player in big league league history, and the first since Al Kaline did ten years earlier, to record 3000 hits.

Needing two hits to reach the milestone and facing National League All Star pitcher Steve Rogers and the Montreal Expos, Rose beats out an infield chopper in the third inning to record hit #2999.

On his next at bat (in the fifth inning), facing a 1-0 count, Pete delivers a sharp single to left center field. The home town crowd erupts with a five minute standing ovation. The Reds dugout empties on the field and former teammate, and current Expos first baseman Tony Perez hands Rose the milestone baseball. Perez and Rose broke into professional baseball together in 1960.

Rose reaches the milestone in only his 16th major league season, quicker than any of the other dozen players before him to accomplished the feat. The Reds lose the game 4-3.

Six years and two teams later, Pete collects hit #4000... as a member of the Montreal Expos.

DAHOF Top 100 -- #4 Pete Rose

Jerry Seinfeld was right... We really do just root for laundry

On October 12th, 1976 I hated Pete Rose as much as any irrational 10 year old could hate another person. His 'Big Red Machine' had just brushed aside my beloved Phillies in a 3 game NLCS white-wash.

Fast forward 26 months, to December of 1978 and I loved Pete Rose as much as any irrational 12 year old could love another person. The same guy who had broken my heart in 1976 and collected hits in 44 straight games a few months earlier had agreed to play first base for my Phils.

Love him or hate him, it is hard not to have an opinion on Pete Rose. Because I have been on both sides of the coin with this guy, I try to believe that I can maintain an objective perspective. The truth is, I can't... I want him to be back in the game because he played for my laundry and helped deliver our first World Series.

Here is what I think:
1) Pete Rose is a gambling addict. Regardless of the type, addiction is a real disease. The league has substance abuse programs for players addicted to drugs and players addicted to alcohol. Why not gamblers?
2) Not all gambling is equal and not every bet should be given the same punishment. It is my opinion, what Pete Rose did is the exact opposite thing from what the 1919 Black Sox did. Pete Rose bet on his team to win, there is no evidence that he ever bet against his team. It isn't hard to conclude that Pete Rose didn't gamble because he wanted the money, he gambled because he loved the rush. The Black Sox got paid to lose, and threw games for cold hard cash. Apples and Oranges.
3) Professional athletes gamble for a living. They pit their athletic skills against another person for money. Regardless of the source of the cash, winning or losing can mean millions of dollars. Players who win, sign big contracts. Teams that win, fill stadiums. Owners that win, fill bank accounts. Let's stop pretending there isn't money on the table each and every night.
4) It took him a while, but Pete Rose finally admitted he bet on baseball. Why did he lie for all those years? Lots of reasons. To confess to the world the truth was essentially admitting he had an addiction. That not something easy for an ego-maniac like Pete Rose to do.

It has been 20+ years.... Enough is enough. It is time to let him back into the game.

On this day.... hit #3631

It was 30 years ago today (August 10, 1981) Pete Rose broke Stan Musial's National League hit record.

It was the first game after the players return from a seven-week strike. When the season was suspended in mid-June , Pete Rose was in the midst of a 15-game hitting streak and led the NL with 73 hits. When play resumed a capacity crowd at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia waited until the eighth inning to see Rose lead off with a single between third base and shortstop off of Cardinals reliever Mark Littel. The game was halted as the crowd delivered a standing ovation and Stan the Man went out to first base to offer his congratulations. The Phillies lost the game 7-3.

After the game, President Ronald Reagan wanted to call Pete...

Familiar Faces / Strange Places: 1983 Wheeze Kids

I know I have already done a Pete Rose version of Familiar Faces / Strange Places... but these three need to be shown together.


In 1983, the Bill Giles (the Phillies President) was desperately holding the championship "window of opportunity" open when he reunited three key members of the fabled "Big Red Machine" in Philadelphia. The plan was to blend Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Tony Perez in with the core group of remaining Phillies to deliver another World Series. Rose was 41 had been with the Phils since 1979 and helped deliver the 1980 World Series title. Morgan was 39 came over from San Francisco and Tony Perez, who was 40 made the trip down to coast from Boston.

The experiment apparently worked, after a rocky regular season, the Phillies won the National League East and the NLCS against the Dodgers. They played the Orioles in the World Series and lost in 5 games. It was a short lived solution, as all three were gone by the start of the 1984 season.

Keeping Score: 1980 World Series Game 6

The 2011 season starts today (tomorrow if you are a Phillies fan), so I wanted to wrap up this 1980 championship "keeping score" series. It's been fun re-watching these games 30+ years later. Even though I was only a high school freshman when it actually happened, I can still remember what I was doing and how I was feeling during this magical time.

When the modern-day World Series began in 1903, the National and American Leagues each had eight teams. With their victory in the 1980 World Series, the Phillies became the last of the "Original Sixteen" franchises to win a Series (although it should be noted that the St. Louis Browns never won a Series in St. Louis, having to wait until 1966, twelve years after they had become the Baltimore Orioles).

If you ask a Phillies fan what he/she remembers most about Game 6 of the 1980 World Series, more than 90% of them will tell you something about Tug McGraw striking out Willie Wilson to clinch the title. However, after watching and scoring this game the real story of the game was Steve Carlton. Unlike his performance in Game #2 (where he struggled with his control and threw almost 160 pitches), Lefty was in complete control of this game until Dallas Green for some reason decided to take him out in the 8th inning. He had a shutout going, had only given up 2 hits, was barely over 100 pitches, and was facing his first real challenge when the Royals got the first two batters on in the 8th. Dallas was clearly nervous about blowing the lead and went immediately to Tug McGraw for the last 6 outs of the series. Tug was not nearly as sharp as Carlton and had to face the game tying or winning runs a couple of times.

This game was much different than every other game between these two teams. For the first time all series, the Phillies didn't have to battle back when they took an early lead as Mike Schmidt drove in both Bob Boone and Lonnie Smith with a clutch single to right center field in the 3rd inning of of Royals starter Rich Gale. Those two runs proved to be all the Phillies needed although they added single runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take a comfortable 4-0 lead.

One of the most spectacular plays you will ever see happened in the bottom of the 9th. After one out, the pesky Royals had once again loaded the bases on Tug McGraw. Facing Frank White, Tug was clearly tired. He got White to pop the ball into foul territory in front of the Phillies dugout. Bob Boone looked like he had it all the way, but the ball popped out of his glove. For a split second, the pain and agony of the 1976 sweep by the Reds and the 1977 & 1978 playoff losses to the Dodgers jumped into my heart and head, but Pete Rose was in place to grab the ball before it hit the turf. Instead of a groin kick, there were two outs and Tug had the slumping Willie Wilson to face. No one single moment in Pete Rose's incredible baseball career defines him more. He hustled to get into to the ball, just in case, and saved the series for the Phillies.

Of course Tug struck out Willie Wilson, turned and waited (as they discussed before the game) for Mike Schmidt to hug and jump on him, and the Phillies dog-piled themselves into an entire generation of fans.

Royals Game 6 scorecard

Phillies Game 6 scorecard

World Champs!

1983 Spring Training video

I found this today. Home movie footage from the Phillies 1983 Spring Training in Clearwater. Lot's of Phils stars, including Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, Tug McGraw, Steve Carlton, Dick Ruthven, Larry Christenson and Garry Maddox. I find it interesting that players (except a few shots of Pete Rose) wore their normal game home jerseys while they prepared for the season. Times sure have changed.

Familiar Faces / Strange Places: Pete Rose / Expos

Thanks for all the nice comments about the new project. Please keep the ideas coming. There are so many choices. Also, if you have a clear picture of a suggested player, please feel free to send it over to me. The hardest part about this project is finding decent images to work with.


Here is another iconic baseball star in a strange uniform. Following the Phillies loss to the Orioles in the 1983 World Series Pete Rose was granted an unconditional release in late October 1983. Phillies management wanted to retain Rose for the 1984 season, but he refused to accept a more limited playing role. On January 20th, 1984 Rose signed a one-year contract with the Montreal Expos. His time in Montreal was highlighted on April 13, 1984, the 21st anniversary of his first career hit, Rose doubled off of the Phillies’ Jerry Koosman for his 4,000th career hit, joining Ty Cobb to become only the second player to enter the 4000 hit club. He played in 95 games before he was traded back the Reds to be a player/manager. Only his 1984 Topps Update and 1985 Donruss cards show Rose as an Expo.