What do you think?
Rate this book
Pete Rose: An American Dilemma
"Kennedy's book on the tarnished and enigmatic Rose is exceptional. Like the best writing about sport--Liebling, Angell--it qualifies as stirring literature. I'd read Kennedy no matter what he writes about." --Richard Ford
Pete Rose played baseball with a singular and headfirst abandon that endeared him to fans and peers, even as it riled others--a figure at once magnetic, beloved and polarizing. Rose has more base hits than anyone in history, yet he is not in the Hall of Fame. Twenty-five years ago he was banished from baseball for gambling, then ruled ineligible for Cooperstown; today, the question "Does Pete Rose belong in the Hall of Fame?" has evolved into perhaps the most provocative in sports, a layered, slippery and ever-relevant moral conundrum.
How do we evaluate the Hit King now, at a time when steroid cheats appear on the Hall of Fame ballot even as Rose is denied? What do we make of this happily unrepentant gambler, this shameless but beguiling showman whose postbaseball journey has led him to a curious reality show and to the streets of Cooperstown to hawk his signature, his story, himself?
Best-selling author Kostya Kennedy delivers an evocative answer in his fascinating re-examination of Pete Rose's life; from his cocky and charismatic early years through his storied playing career to his bitter war against baseball's hierarchy to the man we find today--still incorrigible, still adored by many. Where has his improbable saga landed him in the redefined, post-steroid world? Do we feel any differently about Pete Rose today? Should we?
Pete Rose played baseball with a singular and headfirst abandon that endeared him to fans and peers, even as it riled others--a figure at once magnetic, beloved and polarizing. Rose has more base hits than anyone in history, yet he is not in the Hall of Fame. Twenty-five years ago he was banished from baseball for gambling, then ruled ineligible for Cooperstown; today, the question "Does Pete Rose belong in the Hall of Fame?" has evolved into perhaps the most provocative in sports, a layered, slippery and ever-relevant moral conundrum.
How do we evaluate the Hit King now, at a time when steroid cheats appear on the Hall of Fame ballot even as Rose is denied? What do we make of this happily unrepentant gambler, this shameless but beguiling showman whose postbaseball journey has led him to a curious reality show and to the streets of Cooperstown to hawk his signature, his story, himself?
Best-selling author Kostya Kennedy delivers an evocative answer in his fascinating re-examination of Pete Rose's life; from his cocky and charismatic early years through his storied playing career to his bitter war against baseball's hierarchy to the man we find today--still incorrigible, still adored by many. Where has his improbable saga landed him in the redefined, post-steroid world? Do we feel any differently about Pete Rose today? Should we?
352 pages, Hardcover
First published March 11, 2014
58 people are currently reading
1246 people want to read
About the author
Kostya Kennedy
20 books70 followersKOSTYA KENNEDY is the Editor in Chief of Premium Publishing at Dotdash Meredith. A former Senior Writer and Editor at Sports Illustrated, he is the author of the forthcoming book The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America as well as True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson, the New York Times bestsellers 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports, and Pete Rose: An American Dilemma. All three books won the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year. He has taught at Columbia and New York University, and he lives in Westchester County, New York.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
December 27, 2022
"People who want him in the Hall, they don't understand. If he gets into the Hall of Fame there's nothing that means anything."
- Goose Gossage, pitcher, Hall of Fame, 2008.
This was an engaging biography of Mr. Hit Pete Rose. Kostya Kennedy wrote the story of Pete Rose and covered all aspects of his personal life, his outward public life, his baseball life, and his post-baseball career. The author's tone was straight-forward, non-biased, and delivered the book with journalist integrity I felt. At the time of publication, Kostya Kennedy was the assistant managing editor for Sports Illustrated and the book felt like a long sports article.
The sports journal biography also centered on the baseball commission's decision of indefinite eligibility to play baseball and to never be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Pete Rose's entire career was impressive and talented; he also was a jerk, loud mouth, and arrogant athlete who was abrasive with everyone he encountered. Pete Rose had a reputation among his teammates, coaching staff, reporters, and his own wife and son. His career was filled with awards and highlights, one of them being the leading hitter with 4,256 hits. Ty Cobb is the only other player to have over 4K hits. Pete Rose also had a history of suspensions, fines, reprimands, and other problems associated with bad behavior.
On August 23, 1989, Pete Rose was indefinitely band from baseball for gambling. He denied these allegations among investigators, news outlets, on live television on Larry King, and with anyone who would ask him.
- Goose Gossage, pitcher, Hall of Fame, 2008.
This was an engaging biography of Mr. Hit Pete Rose. Kostya Kennedy wrote the story of Pete Rose and covered all aspects of his personal life, his outward public life, his baseball life, and his post-baseball career. The author's tone was straight-forward, non-biased, and delivered the book with journalist integrity I felt. At the time of publication, Kostya Kennedy was the assistant managing editor for Sports Illustrated and the book felt like a long sports article.
The sports journal biography also centered on the baseball commission's decision of indefinite eligibility to play baseball and to never be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Pete Rose's entire career was impressive and talented; he also was a jerk, loud mouth, and arrogant athlete who was abrasive with everyone he encountered. Pete Rose had a reputation among his teammates, coaching staff, reporters, and his own wife and son. His career was filled with awards and highlights, one of them being the leading hitter with 4,256 hits. Ty Cobb is the only other player to have over 4K hits. Pete Rose also had a history of suspensions, fines, reprimands, and other problems associated with bad behavior.
On August 23, 1989, Pete Rose was indefinitely band from baseball for gambling. He denied these allegations among investigators, news outlets, on live television on Larry King, and with anyone who would ask him.
He maintained a defense for himself throughout the investigation nd then for so many, many years afterward, the same stubborn and unchanging defense that in essence and tenor boils down to five words: "Fuck you, I'm Pete Rose!" pg 216In 2004 he published his own book were he admitted to gambling, placing bets on his own team, and admitting to having an addiction to gambling (college games, hockey, etc.).
There remains something heartbreaking about the way Rose revealed himself at the time of his public confession—a man trapped like many men by his own pathology, trapped by his own delusions, and denials. Indeed, a prison without bars. pg 270Overall this was a great read in my opinion. Most people who know baseball have an opinion about Pete Rose one way or the other. I would recommend this to baseball biography fans or someone who wants a deeper look at Pete Rose. Thanks!
May 7, 2014
Having a big time prejudice against Pete Rose, I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. I knew that Rose was a crude,cocky,shallow man, but what I learned was- he is what he is-he has never pretended to be anything else. I can respect that. Probably many sport stars are not people I would admire, but pretend to be more than they are. I hadn't known how hard Rose worked to succeed in baseball-harder than most, what he lacked in natural talent he made up for in sheer determination. His incredible work ethic, awards, honors and record making statistics, combined with his passion for the game seem greater than the man. Without knowing a lot about the Hall of Fame, I think Rose should have a chance to be inducted, and that is a big change in attitude for me because of this book.
January 16, 2018
By making Rose not exactly likable but more sympathetic than I ever would've expected, Kennedy has pulled off quite a literary feat. That's not to suggest that he goes easy on Rose, far from it; he presents the man in all his brazen arrogance and venality, but also credits his monomaniacal passion and dedication to the game, and his generous praise of teammates and opponents. Regarding the Hall of Fame debate, Kennedy is impressively even-handed, giving voice to all sides, avoiding getting preachy on the topic himself.
Near the end of book, Kennedy sums up Rose thusly:
"Rose may be given to lies, to stretching a story, to saying one thing one day and another the next, but there remains an unassailability in the way he lives his life, stripped bare, busting his ass to first base or on his latest autograph shift no matter who is hooting at him. Take me as I am. Pay me. ... Pete Rose will never be a man to whom cardinal virtues can be ascribed, and yet in the impression he leaves and in the essence of what he projects, he may be one of the few honest people that you will ever meet."
Rose should be thankful for having a biographer of such fair-minded insight and stylish prose -- even if he didn't get a cut of the royalties.
In some ways, the more compelling figures in the book are Rose's son, Petey Jr., who toiled in Minor leagues for nearly 2,000 games, enduring endless heckling from ugly fans, with only one brief call-up to the Bigs to show for it, and Rose's older brother, Dave, a Vietnam vet who, according to many, was a much better athlete than Pete, but ended up working as a cook in his famous brother's restaurants, rarely hearing a word over the years from Charlie Hustle, who apparently was too busy hustling for his next appearance fee.
Near the end of book, Kennedy sums up Rose thusly:
"Rose may be given to lies, to stretching a story, to saying one thing one day and another the next, but there remains an unassailability in the way he lives his life, stripped bare, busting his ass to first base or on his latest autograph shift no matter who is hooting at him. Take me as I am. Pay me. ... Pete Rose will never be a man to whom cardinal virtues can be ascribed, and yet in the impression he leaves and in the essence of what he projects, he may be one of the few honest people that you will ever meet."
Rose should be thankful for having a biographer of such fair-minded insight and stylish prose -- even if he didn't get a cut of the royalties.
In some ways, the more compelling figures in the book are Rose's son, Petey Jr., who toiled in Minor leagues for nearly 2,000 games, enduring endless heckling from ugly fans, with only one brief call-up to the Bigs to show for it, and Rose's older brother, Dave, a Vietnam vet who, according to many, was a much better athlete than Pete, but ended up working as a cook in his famous brother's restaurants, rarely hearing a word over the years from Charlie Hustle, who apparently was too busy hustling for his next appearance fee.
November 18, 2014
This review is from: Pete Rose: An American Dilemma (Kindle Edition)
This is a very fine biography that highlights the ups and down of an American enigma. The book is an easy read and fortunately doesn't dwell on minutiae as some biographies often do. It focuses on the personality of Rose as influenced heavily by his father Harry but there is no deep pycho- babble analysis of Rose. Indeed it appears that no one truly understands the man; not his brother Dave, his son Petey Jr. and perhaps not even his first two wives.
Yet we can all agree from reading Kennedy's book that Rose is crude, coarse, and often a total jerk.(And yet he was never a drinker or one to stay up late) As former Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent said, " Rose is a man without a moral compass." Money seems to be the driving force behind the man since his 1989 banishment. And yet Rose will treat the average Joe or acquaintance with utmost respect at social events where the elite meet to drink and eat. He is in that sense the common man; a blue collar man of a different uniform who knows how to lick the hard times in life. And as a leader or cheerleader there can be no doubt of his prowess and commitment to his team and to the game of baseball. No man, except perhaps Cobb, ever played with as much intensity and desire to overcome his limited skills to become a living legend.
He was so admired that he made the all-century team in 1999 despite his banishment from the game that was his life. Kennedy raises the often debated questions that still occupy Facebook/ Goodreads baseball discussions and provides a balanced take on them. Did Rose gratuitously crush Ray Fosse's shoulder unnecessarily in the 1970 All-Star game or was it a collision caused by Fosse's block of the plate in the 14th inning of a game with few opportunities to win. Was Jim Gray a jerk for his postgame interview(Hint- he still is) or was it newsworthy?
Should the man who steadfastly lied about gambling on baseball for 15 years and who was sentenced to federal prison be permanently banned from eligibility to the Hall of Fame, or should a 25 year ban from baseball be sufficient deterrence and punishment? Should an ad hoc committee picked by the Hall of Directors, stacked against Rose at its inception, continue to block admission to one of the greatest players of any generation? I can judge the man morally flawed and egocentric and still find that he belongs in baseball's shrine of honor. To do otherwise is to turn a blind eye to a man who humbled himself before hundreds at the 25th anniversary of his 4,193rd hit and begged for forgiveness for having disrespected the game that he loved. Rose never cheated the game: his numbers are not artificial. He belongs. Thank you again Mr. Kennedy for writing a very fine and timely book.( PS I loved "56" as well.
This is a very fine biography that highlights the ups and down of an American enigma. The book is an easy read and fortunately doesn't dwell on minutiae as some biographies often do. It focuses on the personality of Rose as influenced heavily by his father Harry but there is no deep pycho- babble analysis of Rose. Indeed it appears that no one truly understands the man; not his brother Dave, his son Petey Jr. and perhaps not even his first two wives.
Yet we can all agree from reading Kennedy's book that Rose is crude, coarse, and often a total jerk.(And yet he was never a drinker or one to stay up late) As former Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent said, " Rose is a man without a moral compass." Money seems to be the driving force behind the man since his 1989 banishment. And yet Rose will treat the average Joe or acquaintance with utmost respect at social events where the elite meet to drink and eat. He is in that sense the common man; a blue collar man of a different uniform who knows how to lick the hard times in life. And as a leader or cheerleader there can be no doubt of his prowess and commitment to his team and to the game of baseball. No man, except perhaps Cobb, ever played with as much intensity and desire to overcome his limited skills to become a living legend.
He was so admired that he made the all-century team in 1999 despite his banishment from the game that was his life. Kennedy raises the often debated questions that still occupy Facebook/ Goodreads baseball discussions and provides a balanced take on them. Did Rose gratuitously crush Ray Fosse's shoulder unnecessarily in the 1970 All-Star game or was it a collision caused by Fosse's block of the plate in the 14th inning of a game with few opportunities to win. Was Jim Gray a jerk for his postgame interview(Hint- he still is) or was it newsworthy?
Should the man who steadfastly lied about gambling on baseball for 15 years and who was sentenced to federal prison be permanently banned from eligibility to the Hall of Fame, or should a 25 year ban from baseball be sufficient deterrence and punishment? Should an ad hoc committee picked by the Hall of Directors, stacked against Rose at its inception, continue to block admission to one of the greatest players of any generation? I can judge the man morally flawed and egocentric and still find that he belongs in baseball's shrine of honor. To do otherwise is to turn a blind eye to a man who humbled himself before hundreds at the 25th anniversary of his 4,193rd hit and begged for forgiveness for having disrespected the game that he loved. Rose never cheated the game: his numbers are not artificial. He belongs. Thank you again Mr. Kennedy for writing a very fine and timely book.( PS I loved "56" as well.
April 15, 2020
3.5 stars
This was suppose to be the summer of baseball for me. I bought loads of tickets and I cleared time. So now I'm loosing my mind and I picked this up to understand what the big deal was with Pete Rose was. I hear old-timers argue endlessly about him today so it still bothers baseball fans. The book was well written, clear and concise. I was thrilled reading about the race for Ty Cobb's record. I don't know if it was Kennedy's goal but I honestly felt sorry for Rose.
Take me out to the ball game...
This was suppose to be the summer of baseball for me. I bought loads of tickets and I cleared time. So now I'm loosing my mind and I picked this up to understand what the big deal was with Pete Rose was. I hear old-timers argue endlessly about him today so it still bothers baseball fans. The book was well written, clear and concise. I was thrilled reading about the race for Ty Cobb's record. I don't know if it was Kennedy's goal but I honestly felt sorry for Rose.
Take me out to the ball game...
January 5, 2023
didn't think i needed to know more about pete rose's story, but veteran writer kostya kennedy does yeoman's work assembling and then deconstructing the rose mythos: the cincy roots, the rise, the dowd/ueberroth/giammatti proceedings, and the long third act (including an interesting discussion of pete rose jr's life and times). i discovered several other interesting books through this one, including fay vincent's excellent "days as commish" memoir, so kudos to kostya for doing the work of not keeping this stuff out of cite. also interesting to learn that the dowd report still lives online:
https://www.thedowdreport.com/
https://www.thedowdreport.com/
March 28, 2014
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
Pete Rose has been one of the most polarizing figures in baseball for the last 25 years. In that time, he signed an agreement that permanently banned him from associating with Major League Baseball, has admitted in a tell-all book that he bet on baseball after denying so for over 15 years, spent time in prison for tax evasion, hawked as much memorabilia and as many autographs as he could and yet still have a lot of support to win reinstatement and enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame. All of these topics and more are covered in Kostya Kennedy’s outstanding book on Rose.
This isn’t a typical biography in which the story of the subject is told from birth to present day. Oh, sure, there are pages about Rose’s youth, his relationship with his father and his climb from the minor leagues to the Cincinnati Reds. However, the focus of the book is on Rose and the manner in which he handles himself with the ban from baseball.
There are several chapters interspersed throughout the book on his presence in Cooperstown, New York during the weekend in 2012 when two players were inducted into the Hall of Fame. These stories of Rose and his presence in the hamlet selling anything he can while at the same time being banned from enshrinement in the museum less than a mile away on Main Street smacks of part irony, part melancholy. Kennedy makes the reader feel like he or she is experiencing induction weekend in Cooperstown during these chapters. When Barry Larkin, one of the players inducted that year, mentions Rose during his acceptance speech, the reader cannot help but feel Rose is there, thanks to the prose of Kennedy.
Other topics which are captured and vividly described by Kennedy are Rose’s relationship with his oldest son, Pete Jr. Here another emotional event is illustrated well when Pete Jr. makes his major league debut with the Reds in 1997, but cannot enjoy the moment with his father in the clubhouse because of the ban.
However, my favorite chapter in the book was chapter 17, simply titled “Gate Keepers.” The first paragraph in this chapter is all you need to know in order to understand the title. It ends with the phrase “Keep Pete Rose out of the Baseball Hall of Fame.” This was the meeting in 1991 when a special committee met and drafted the rule that became known as the Pete Rose rule – simply that a person on baseball’s ineligible list shall not be eligible to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Kennedy can barely hide the contempt for this rule, calling it “the greatest disservice to be inflicted upon the Hall of Fame induction process…” and further stating that nothing else “has so deeply stained the procedure, nor delivered such a blow to the integrity of the process as a whole.” This shows that not only has Kennedy done his research, but that he has a deep passion for the topic. His writing is a reflection of that passion.
No matter how the reader feels about Rose and whether or not he belongs in the Hall of Fame, this outstanding book should be read by every baseball fan. The stories are rich, the research through, the interviews with other players and Rose’s family members riveting and the entire book is a fine work by Kennedy.
Did I skim?
No.
Pace of the book:
Excellent. Kennedy’s writing keeps the reader engrossed and the pages turning, whether the topic is Rose hustling to third base on a hit, the gambling investigation, Pete Jr. or the latest sale of Rose merchandise in Cooperstown.
Do I recommend?
This is a must read book for any baseball fan. It doesn’t matter whether you like Rose or not, nor does it matter how the reader feels about whether or not Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame, this book will keep the reader riveted.
Book Format Read:
e-book (Nook)
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
Pete Rose has been one of the most polarizing figures in baseball for the last 25 years. In that time, he signed an agreement that permanently banned him from associating with Major League Baseball, has admitted in a tell-all book that he bet on baseball after denying so for over 15 years, spent time in prison for tax evasion, hawked as much memorabilia and as many autographs as he could and yet still have a lot of support to win reinstatement and enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame. All of these topics and more are covered in Kostya Kennedy’s outstanding book on Rose.
This isn’t a typical biography in which the story of the subject is told from birth to present day. Oh, sure, there are pages about Rose’s youth, his relationship with his father and his climb from the minor leagues to the Cincinnati Reds. However, the focus of the book is on Rose and the manner in which he handles himself with the ban from baseball.
There are several chapters interspersed throughout the book on his presence in Cooperstown, New York during the weekend in 2012 when two players were inducted into the Hall of Fame. These stories of Rose and his presence in the hamlet selling anything he can while at the same time being banned from enshrinement in the museum less than a mile away on Main Street smacks of part irony, part melancholy. Kennedy makes the reader feel like he or she is experiencing induction weekend in Cooperstown during these chapters. When Barry Larkin, one of the players inducted that year, mentions Rose during his acceptance speech, the reader cannot help but feel Rose is there, thanks to the prose of Kennedy.
Other topics which are captured and vividly described by Kennedy are Rose’s relationship with his oldest son, Pete Jr. Here another emotional event is illustrated well when Pete Jr. makes his major league debut with the Reds in 1997, but cannot enjoy the moment with his father in the clubhouse because of the ban.
However, my favorite chapter in the book was chapter 17, simply titled “Gate Keepers.” The first paragraph in this chapter is all you need to know in order to understand the title. It ends with the phrase “Keep Pete Rose out of the Baseball Hall of Fame.” This was the meeting in 1991 when a special committee met and drafted the rule that became known as the Pete Rose rule – simply that a person on baseball’s ineligible list shall not be eligible to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Kennedy can barely hide the contempt for this rule, calling it “the greatest disservice to be inflicted upon the Hall of Fame induction process…” and further stating that nothing else “has so deeply stained the procedure, nor delivered such a blow to the integrity of the process as a whole.” This shows that not only has Kennedy done his research, but that he has a deep passion for the topic. His writing is a reflection of that passion.
No matter how the reader feels about Rose and whether or not he belongs in the Hall of Fame, this outstanding book should be read by every baseball fan. The stories are rich, the research through, the interviews with other players and Rose’s family members riveting and the entire book is a fine work by Kennedy.
Did I skim?
No.
Pace of the book:
Excellent. Kennedy’s writing keeps the reader engrossed and the pages turning, whether the topic is Rose hustling to third base on a hit, the gambling investigation, Pete Jr. or the latest sale of Rose merchandise in Cooperstown.
Do I recommend?
This is a must read book for any baseball fan. It doesn’t matter whether you like Rose or not, nor does it matter how the reader feels about whether or not Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame, this book will keep the reader riveted.
Book Format Read:
e-book (Nook)
January 9, 2022
Having watched Rose in person a thousand times hit any and every pitcher, basically do anything he wanted on a ball field and daring you to stop him (you couldn’t) and hating his arrogance, it was also impossible to deny (however badly one wanted to) his love and lust for life, his competitive drive, dedication, commitment, “hustle,” willingness to play the positions asked of him while continuing to excel were simply unmatched. And since he played for the 2 teams I hated most, that was hard for me to admit. When it was later found he did what he did, it was tremendously disappointing, but I’ve never agreed with such a black and white, cut and dried “answer/solution” as his turned out to be. I mean are we really so naive as to think he was, has been or is the only one guilty of that? Don’t be foolish. He’s just the most notorious to be caught.
I feel Pete Rose had nothing to prove, little to gain and much to lose if caught — all true. So aside from a nutso competitive streak, why??? Addiction. Gambling addiction. Cop out? No, fact. Do I have much sympathy for such a talented person being so weak they can’t beat that? Not much. But do I think it merits a LIFETIME ban from the HOF for the greatest hitter in history, a player so far out in front of others chasing his records that one Could liken him to a baseball Gretzky (no one will catch him) or football Brady (ditto). Or Jordan. If they were found guilty of the same thing, we would HAVE to support lifetime bans for them too (assuming we do for Rose) just so as not to be total hypocrites. But would we all feel comfortable, if not happy, punishing these people in a way even SMU’s “Death Penalty” football punishment didn’t (though it did have some disastrous long term impacts)? I expect some would say Yes and that’s their right. But it’s also the point of this book. Cause it’s not as simple as that for me. I never pictured shrimpy Pirate rookie Barry Bonds with his 16 home runs ever becoming a 70 home run hitter, let alone all time HR leader. He didn’t. He got plenty of help. Clemons, Sosa, etc. Steroids. For years, careers. There’s a great chance many may never have made a single All Star game without help. Now chances seem slim they’ll make the HOF. But they haven’t been officially banned. Pete has. Yet what while what he did was wrong, it didn’t make him a “Super Player,” record setter, MVP. Like these others. Strikes me that he’s being treated punitively cause he might have cost a few people some gambling money — not because he turned himself into a super robot with super powers. What he did was worse? Bad enough for the greatest to face a LIFETIME ban?!? I hated Pete Rose but I think that’s always been motivated by wrong reasons and I’ll always think it’s bullshit. Book? Recommended.
I feel Pete Rose had nothing to prove, little to gain and much to lose if caught — all true. So aside from a nutso competitive streak, why??? Addiction. Gambling addiction. Cop out? No, fact. Do I have much sympathy for such a talented person being so weak they can’t beat that? Not much. But do I think it merits a LIFETIME ban from the HOF for the greatest hitter in history, a player so far out in front of others chasing his records that one Could liken him to a baseball Gretzky (no one will catch him) or football Brady (ditto). Or Jordan. If they were found guilty of the same thing, we would HAVE to support lifetime bans for them too (assuming we do for Rose) just so as not to be total hypocrites. But would we all feel comfortable, if not happy, punishing these people in a way even SMU’s “Death Penalty” football punishment didn’t (though it did have some disastrous long term impacts)? I expect some would say Yes and that’s their right. But it’s also the point of this book. Cause it’s not as simple as that for me. I never pictured shrimpy Pirate rookie Barry Bonds with his 16 home runs ever becoming a 70 home run hitter, let alone all time HR leader. He didn’t. He got plenty of help. Clemons, Sosa, etc. Steroids. For years, careers. There’s a great chance many may never have made a single All Star game without help. Now chances seem slim they’ll make the HOF. But they haven’t been officially banned. Pete has. Yet what while what he did was wrong, it didn’t make him a “Super Player,” record setter, MVP. Like these others. Strikes me that he’s being treated punitively cause he might have cost a few people some gambling money — not because he turned himself into a super robot with super powers. What he did was worse? Bad enough for the greatest to face a LIFETIME ban?!? I hated Pete Rose but I think that’s always been motivated by wrong reasons and I’ll always think it’s bullshit. Book? Recommended.
May 27, 2014
As the title indicates, Rose represents a dilemma. The main issue is whether he should be allowed on the Hall of Fame ballot after being banished from baseball. Being banished from the game and its official activities is not the same thing as being eligible for the Hall. In light of multiple recent steroid offenses since the Rose exile, there is a strong case for his eligibility. Steroids' users compromised the integrity of the game and its records far worse than any offenses Rose committed and yet Bonds et al are all on the ballot.
The author does present the other side. Rose was defiant for years and refused to admit he bet on baseball, and his public conduct by frequenting Vegas and continuing to gamble has done little to aid his cause.
As Kennedy shows in this well-written book, Rose was a victim of his own excess and poor legal representation. He unwisely accepted an arrangement that would come back to haunt him. Part of that was certainly a product of his own arrogance and part of it was inadequate legal counsel. His problems were compounded when Fay Vincent became commissioner and clearly maintained a vendetta against Rose.
An interesting sub-plot is the career of his son Pete Rose Jr., who kicked around for years in the minors and enjoyed only a brief stint in the majors. He would be subject to relentless abuse for the sins of his father.
As for Pete, he finally succumbed and did confess to his misdeeds; perhaps too late for his redemption. In an era of bogus records and players who approach the game in a lax, even lazy fashion, Rose remains a model for how the game should be played on the field. He was " Charley Hustle", and he is the all-time hits leader. They were clean hits unaided by performance enhancing substances. The commissioner and Hall of Fame needs to acknowledge that by making him eligible and letting the voters decide.
The author does present the other side. Rose was defiant for years and refused to admit he bet on baseball, and his public conduct by frequenting Vegas and continuing to gamble has done little to aid his cause.
As Kennedy shows in this well-written book, Rose was a victim of his own excess and poor legal representation. He unwisely accepted an arrangement that would come back to haunt him. Part of that was certainly a product of his own arrogance and part of it was inadequate legal counsel. His problems were compounded when Fay Vincent became commissioner and clearly maintained a vendetta against Rose.
An interesting sub-plot is the career of his son Pete Rose Jr., who kicked around for years in the minors and enjoyed only a brief stint in the majors. He would be subject to relentless abuse for the sins of his father.
As for Pete, he finally succumbed and did confess to his misdeeds; perhaps too late for his redemption. In an era of bogus records and players who approach the game in a lax, even lazy fashion, Rose remains a model for how the game should be played on the field. He was " Charley Hustle", and he is the all-time hits leader. They were clean hits unaided by performance enhancing substances. The commissioner and Hall of Fame needs to acknowledge that by making him eligible and letting the voters decide.
April 8, 2014
"I'm just like everybody else. I have two arms, two legs legs and four- thousand hits."
I love this quote from Pete Rose. It shows his sense of humor as well as his arrogance and the fact he is kind of a jerk.
Pete Rose: An American Dilemma by Kostya Kennedy is a quick and detailed book that works (sometimes succesfully, sometimes not) to drill down and gain an understanding of the famous baseball player.
The dilemma he addresses is, of course, should Pete Rose be allowed into the baseball hall of fame.
Kennedy manages to paint a complete picture of Rose. Yes, Pete bet on baseball. Yes, he lied about that too. In fact, Pete Rose comes across as the kind of self-centered, cheating on his wife, ignoring his kids, kind of bastard we all think he is. But like all of us, there are other layers there too. Pete is an exceptional baseball player. Pete is loyal to his family and friends.
So, the question remains, should the all-time hits leader in baseball be allowed into the MLB hall of fame?
I asked around: Gaylord Perry wouldn't comment because he was too busy working on his spitball. Don Sutton and Whitey Ford answered, but to be honest, I couldn't hear what they said over the noise they were making scuffing and cutting up their baseballs. Ty Cobb told me his thoughts and then he started to beat up a handicapped man (most of what he said was more then a little racist, too). Roberto Alomar spit at me. MLB Commissioner Landis was too busy working on segregating baseball to answer.
in other words, there is no way he should be joining such a pure and illustrious group.
Good book though...
I love this quote from Pete Rose. It shows his sense of humor as well as his arrogance and the fact he is kind of a jerk.
Pete Rose: An American Dilemma by Kostya Kennedy is a quick and detailed book that works (sometimes succesfully, sometimes not) to drill down and gain an understanding of the famous baseball player.
The dilemma he addresses is, of course, should Pete Rose be allowed into the baseball hall of fame.
Kennedy manages to paint a complete picture of Rose. Yes, Pete bet on baseball. Yes, he lied about that too. In fact, Pete Rose comes across as the kind of self-centered, cheating on his wife, ignoring his kids, kind of bastard we all think he is. But like all of us, there are other layers there too. Pete is an exceptional baseball player. Pete is loyal to his family and friends.
So, the question remains, should the all-time hits leader in baseball be allowed into the MLB hall of fame?
I asked around: Gaylord Perry wouldn't comment because he was too busy working on his spitball. Don Sutton and Whitey Ford answered, but to be honest, I couldn't hear what they said over the noise they were making scuffing and cutting up their baseballs. Ty Cobb told me his thoughts and then he started to beat up a handicapped man (most of what he said was more then a little racist, too). Roberto Alomar spit at me. MLB Commissioner Landis was too busy working on segregating baseball to answer.
in other words, there is no way he should be joining such a pure and illustrious group.
Good book though...
August 24, 2014
The fact that Pete Rose, for all his warts and personal failings, is still not in the Hall of Fame after 25 years is one of the great slights in the history of the game of baseball. To be sure, Rose is a deeply flawed man whose personal failings deserve the punishment he's received, but when all is said and done, a hall of fame which fails to include the hits leader is a joke. Cobb and Speaker threw a game for money and are in, Cap Anson was a racist of the highest order, Gaylord Perry is famous and enshrined for an illegal pitch, yet Peter Edward Rose is still out, even after he has admitted his faults. When will enough be enough?
Kostya Kennedy's book is a balanced look at Rose, and delivers his story with clear eyes and a great deal of heart. He's a sportswriter of the highest order, and the scholarship and heart that he lends to Rose's story in this book is considerable. I am very pleased to have read this book.
Kostya Kennedy's book is a balanced look at Rose, and delivers his story with clear eyes and a great deal of heart. He's a sportswriter of the highest order, and the scholarship and heart that he lends to Rose's story in this book is considerable. I am very pleased to have read this book.
October 5, 2022
Pete Rose is the all-time leader in hits for Major League Baseball. He is also banned for life because of betting on the game, which he only really admitted to some fifteen years after he was banished. These are both facts about the man and player and manager who is at the center of a longstanding debate over whether he belongs in the Hall of Fame or not. Kostya Kennedy, whose brilliant book "56" was a great distillation of Joe DiMaggio's life through the context of his hitting streak in 1941, has worked his magic once again with a biography that at once transcends the subject matter (sports) and turned it into an epic referendum on punishment and forgiveness, greed and hustle, team effort and selfish concerns. And at the heart of the book is a man who is hard to really pin down as good or bad (though recent allegations of sexual misconduct that have come to light after decades in the shadows would serve to make it a little easier to land on the side of "bad").
"Pete Rose: An American Dilemma" is one of the best sports biographies out there because it both uses the sport of baseball to frame the prism of Peter Edward Rose (it's why he's famous, after all, and why his banishment was so huge in 1989), and because it understands that the human being behind the myth is always more interesting, for good and ill. Rose, a fiery competitor who never gave less that 100 percent on the base paths, is shown to be a bundle of energy who loved the sport of baseball and played it about as well as anyone ever has. He is also a longtime gambler whose betting habits have come to define his relationship to the sport he spent his life playing, and had negative effects on his family as they try to navigate a world that is often hostile to them merely because of a shared last name (his son Petey had to deal with hecklers often during his own minor-league career). Pete Rose himself is not entirely unsympathetic (after all, gambling is as much an addiction as cigarettes or drugs would be), but he's not entirely sympathetic either; his many "confessions" over the years have been self-serving and opportunistic (the timing of his memoir in which he finally admitted betting on baseball dropped on the same day that the Hall announced its chosen recipients of enshrinement for that year).
I think it's hard to be on the fence about Rose, but it's easy to go back and forth between thinking "put him in the Hall for his player achievements" and "keep him out as a deterrent to other potential cheaters" because honestly, once you start letting in certain people, do you really have any way to determine what invalidates a HOF-worthy career? One could argue that steroid users during the Nineties don't deserve enshrinement (me, I feel like adding them isn't going to cause the end of the world, but I also don't think they should have spotless plaques next to their exhibit. A little context can go a long way). Rose is harder to pin down for some because he's rarely ever shown the kind of public contrition that goes down well with the public, even if it's merely performative. This book didn't go a long way towards making me feel more one way than the other, I think I'm still inclined to keep him out while he's alive because I don't know that I'd want to see him forgiven in public. But I get why the banishment was cruel in how it went down, even though Rose didn't do himself any favors. Kennedy goes a long way towards highlighting how the Dowd Report had Rose dead to rights on betting on the sport, whether or not this affected his management of the Reds during his player-manager run in the mid-Eighties.
Pete Rose is, indeed, a very American dilemma. A proud son of Cincinnati and a longtime Reds player, he played on the field the way that you'd want your baseball team to play. But off the field, he made some choices that resulted in a (so far) lifetime ban from the game that he loves. I feel bad for him in many ways, but I think I feel bad more for his family and those close to him who, constantly in the book, come to his defense while acknowledging his faults. Pete Rose is both a baseball great and a gambling addict who may have done more damage to his sport than any number of roided-out superstars. How you feel about him, and how you reconcile the one with the other, will depend on a lot of things. This book is a great examination, fair and balanced, of what it means to be Pete Rose, and why it's still important to think about what he did and why it still matters.
"Pete Rose: An American Dilemma" is one of the best sports biographies out there because it both uses the sport of baseball to frame the prism of Peter Edward Rose (it's why he's famous, after all, and why his banishment was so huge in 1989), and because it understands that the human being behind the myth is always more interesting, for good and ill. Rose, a fiery competitor who never gave less that 100 percent on the base paths, is shown to be a bundle of energy who loved the sport of baseball and played it about as well as anyone ever has. He is also a longtime gambler whose betting habits have come to define his relationship to the sport he spent his life playing, and had negative effects on his family as they try to navigate a world that is often hostile to them merely because of a shared last name (his son Petey had to deal with hecklers often during his own minor-league career). Pete Rose himself is not entirely unsympathetic (after all, gambling is as much an addiction as cigarettes or drugs would be), but he's not entirely sympathetic either; his many "confessions" over the years have been self-serving and opportunistic (the timing of his memoir in which he finally admitted betting on baseball dropped on the same day that the Hall announced its chosen recipients of enshrinement for that year).
I think it's hard to be on the fence about Rose, but it's easy to go back and forth between thinking "put him in the Hall for his player achievements" and "keep him out as a deterrent to other potential cheaters" because honestly, once you start letting in certain people, do you really have any way to determine what invalidates a HOF-worthy career? One could argue that steroid users during the Nineties don't deserve enshrinement (me, I feel like adding them isn't going to cause the end of the world, but I also don't think they should have spotless plaques next to their exhibit. A little context can go a long way). Rose is harder to pin down for some because he's rarely ever shown the kind of public contrition that goes down well with the public, even if it's merely performative. This book didn't go a long way towards making me feel more one way than the other, I think I'm still inclined to keep him out while he's alive because I don't know that I'd want to see him forgiven in public. But I get why the banishment was cruel in how it went down, even though Rose didn't do himself any favors. Kennedy goes a long way towards highlighting how the Dowd Report had Rose dead to rights on betting on the sport, whether or not this affected his management of the Reds during his player-manager run in the mid-Eighties.
Pete Rose is, indeed, a very American dilemma. A proud son of Cincinnati and a longtime Reds player, he played on the field the way that you'd want your baseball team to play. But off the field, he made some choices that resulted in a (so far) lifetime ban from the game that he loves. I feel bad for him in many ways, but I think I feel bad more for his family and those close to him who, constantly in the book, come to his defense while acknowledging his faults. Pete Rose is both a baseball great and a gambling addict who may have done more damage to his sport than any number of roided-out superstars. How you feel about him, and how you reconcile the one with the other, will depend on a lot of things. This book is a great examination, fair and balanced, of what it means to be Pete Rose, and why it's still important to think about what he did and why it still matters.
January 16, 2017
Pete Rose the one many compare to Ty Cobb as their intensity for the game of baseball was similar and unmatched by any others. The all time hit king of the MLB any true fan of Pete Rose needs to read this book it is great for anybody that is fond of Pete. Even though he is a nasty little jerk he is able to show the most respect to the common man as his on field persona doesn't define him as a man. Many of his lessons were taught to him as a Child by his father who was a great athlete who continued to play tackle football well into his 40's; he would run sprints home after bad games this type of mentality would be taught to Pete at a young age. After every little league game him and his dad would review the good and bad of the game and his father would always say if Pete went 3 for 5 in a game why didn't he go 4 for 5. Those type of things would turn Pete into the man he is today although he has had some slip ups such as the gambling scandal. This book was a great book for baseball fans but can get a little boring and you can become lost at some parts but if you're a Pete rose or baseball fan it is a must read.
August 5, 2018
In exploring one of the most iconic though equally enigmatic sporting heroes the world has ever known, author Kostya Kennedy captures magic in a bottle in his 2014 biography “Pete Rose: An American Dilemma.” From exploring key moments of Pete’s personal and professional lives through multiple interviews with the man himself, his family, his teammates, and his decades-long detractors, Kennedy gives all aspects of Pete Rose a fair shake while not situating his opinion too solidly one way or the other. The well-thought out analysis and conclusions given in this biography are top-notch, and are much better than the basic points brought up by both Rose friends and fiends over the years. Though the Hall of Fame may never become a reality, there is yet a happy ending in the Pete Rose story: not only in Pete admitting the truth, but also in finally showing genuine remorse for his actions - both for the actual crime and then the continuous years of lies and denials that followed - and “reconfiguring his life” as the late Bart Giamatti wished for him to do. Now, Rose may indeed die a happy, just man at peace with the world.
February 3, 2022
Kennedy dives deep into the ridiculous character that is Pete Rose. The choice to eschew chronological order pays off in multiple ways, though at times this book does feel a bit scattered. That seems to be a function of Rose's inconsistencies and impetuousness more than Kennedy's writing.
The most refreshing aspect of the book is that it was published in 2013, making it immune to the tendency so many authors have to connect every single event and person in modern times to Trump and Trumpism. Rose, indeed, bears more than a passing resemblance to the former President, but Kennedy's thesis ultimately applies to all careless, vacuous people: there is need to draw vast conclusions about their motivations. Men like these seek only to fill whatever short term void is directly in front of them at the moment. And no matter how much money (or how many hits or how much power) they accumulate, it will never be enough. It certainly hasn't been for Rose.
The most refreshing aspect of the book is that it was published in 2013, making it immune to the tendency so many authors have to connect every single event and person in modern times to Trump and Trumpism. Rose, indeed, bears more than a passing resemblance to the former President, but Kennedy's thesis ultimately applies to all careless, vacuous people: there is need to draw vast conclusions about their motivations. Men like these seek only to fill whatever short term void is directly in front of them at the moment. And no matter how much money (or how many hits or how much power) they accumulate, it will never be enough. It certainly hasn't been for Rose.
March 14, 2015
The newest biography on arguably the most fascinating baseball personality of the last 50 years. Kennedy weaves back and forth between the traditional biography with his 2012 appearance in Cooperstown during induction weekend. All the while, the case for and against his inclusion in the Hall of Fame are weaved throughout. Several explanations and not justifications are given for Rose's actions. The final chapter with the Sandlot Kid is genius.
May 27, 2025
When reviewing a biography, it's hard to separate the quality of the book from the quality of the subject. So let me state it plain: This is a very good book about a very, VERY flawed man.
Kennedy is fair, even-handed toward everyone in this book. He trusts his readers to draw our own conclusions. I did. Pete Rose was a peerless ballplayer and a deficient human being.
We meet the important men in his life: his father, his brother Dave, his son Petey; his teammates on the Big Red Machine; John Dowd and Bart Giamatti, the investigator and commissioner instrumental in Rose's lifetime ban from baseball. It's from these relationships we get a 360º view of the man.
I saw Pete Rose play. He was electric. I think much of my appreciation for "small ball" comes from seeing Rose's impact on a game with just a single and smart base running. I enjoyed the baseball-centric parts of the book and have no doubt that Rose was an exceptionally dedicated player who loved baseball.
But not as much as he loved money. Cash, actually. And stardom. I found him especially odious when he hung around Cooperstown on induction weekend, drawing attention away from baseball's greats to sign autographs and bask in his infamy. Anything for a buck. Anything to feed his ego.
He hurt people along the way. He also helped – it's good to be reminded what race relations were like in the country during the 1960s and kudos to Rose for rising above the bigotry. There's no one he hurt or helped more than himself.
A very good book about a very sad and complex situation. I recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in Pete Rose and why he still matters.
Kennedy is fair, even-handed toward everyone in this book. He trusts his readers to draw our own conclusions. I did. Pete Rose was a peerless ballplayer and a deficient human being.
We meet the important men in his life: his father, his brother Dave, his son Petey; his teammates on the Big Red Machine; John Dowd and Bart Giamatti, the investigator and commissioner instrumental in Rose's lifetime ban from baseball. It's from these relationships we get a 360º view of the man.
I saw Pete Rose play. He was electric. I think much of my appreciation for "small ball" comes from seeing Rose's impact on a game with just a single and smart base running. I enjoyed the baseball-centric parts of the book and have no doubt that Rose was an exceptionally dedicated player who loved baseball.
But not as much as he loved money. Cash, actually. And stardom. I found him especially odious when he hung around Cooperstown on induction weekend, drawing attention away from baseball's greats to sign autographs and bask in his infamy. Anything for a buck. Anything to feed his ego.
He hurt people along the way. He also helped – it's good to be reminded what race relations were like in the country during the 1960s and kudos to Rose for rising above the bigotry. There's no one he hurt or helped more than himself.
A very good book about a very sad and complex situation. I recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in Pete Rose and why he still matters.
December 19, 2014
Pete Rose is baseball’s all-time leader in hits, games, at-bats, and plate appearances. He’s 6th all-time in runs scored, 2nd in doubles, and 7th in total bases. Rose led the league in hits 7 times, doubles 5 times, runs scored 4 times, won 3 batting titles, was the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year, and the 1973 NL MVP. He was a 17-time All-Star, and made the All-Star team at 5 different positions, a record that will most likely never be broken.
Pete Rose played in his last major league game in 1986 and has been banned from major league baseball since 1989, yet he might still be baseball’s most divisive figure. Lots of ink has been spilled over Rose in the past 25 years, and Kostya Kennedy’s 2014 book Pete Rose: An American Dilemma, is the latest attempt to dissect the life and career of baseball’s all-time hit leader.
Kennedy does a good job of analyzing the different parts of Rose’s life, with detours into the history of Cincinnati, and Pete’s relationship with his brother Dave. A highlight of the book was the section on the baseball career of Rose’s son Pete Rose Jr., who played professional baseball from 1989 until 2009, accumulating just 16 plate appearances and 2 hits in the major leagues in 1997. Like his father, Rose Jr. is a player with a tremendous work ethic. Pete Rose Jr. is now a manager in independent baseball, continuing his love affair with the game.
Pete Rose: An American Dilemma assumes a great deal of familiarity with Rose’s playing career, as it jumps around in chronology and doesn’t cover every year of Rose’s 24-year playing career. I was already quite familiar with Rose’s career, but I wish the book had provided more context for Rose’s remarkable accomplishments.
Throughout the book, Kennedy never really comes down on one side or the other, for or against Rose. Does he think Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame? Does he think that Pete Rose should be reinstated? Kennedy never really says. Kennedy is harsh on Rose throughout the book, yet he clearly feels that the Hall of Fame’s treatment of Rose was unfair when it singled him out and changed the rules in 1991 so he wouldn’t appear on the ballot. The new rule stated that anyone on baseball’s ineligible list could not appear on the ballot for the Hall of Fame. Since Rose was the only player on the ineligible list, the rule change was obviously targeted at him. The Hall of Fame clearly didn’t want to deal with the possibility of Rose being voted into the Hall of Fame while at the same time being banned from baseball, which seems like the biggest oxymoron imaginable.
Pete Rose’s behavior since 1989 is oftentimes incomprehensible to rational people. When it became clear during Major League Baseball’s investigation of his gambling habits that Rose would be banned, Rose and his lawyers fought for a paragraph in the document banning Rose that said he neither admitted nor denied having bet on baseball. This was a ridiculous assertion to make, and I don’t understand why then-Commissioner Bart Giamatti allowed such unclear language into the final document. If Rose wasn’t admitting that he bet on baseball, why was he being banned? If Rose hadn’t bet on baseball, why did he accept the ban? Major League Baseball should have forced Rose to admit in 1989 that he did bet on baseball. Instead, Rose lied for 15 years, not telling the truth and admitting that he bet on baseball until the release of his 2004 autobiography, My Prison Without Bars.
If Pete Rose were a smarter guy he might have been reinstated and be back in baseball by now. But I think he’s a dumb guy who really doesn’t get what he did wrong. He knows that he broke the rules, but he’s never seemed ashamed that he broke the rules. As Kennedy says, Rose isn’t sorry for what he did, he’s only sorry that he got caught. Rose’s half-hearted apologies have never seemed sincere.
In my opinion, in order to have any chance of getting back into baseball, Rose needed to do three things:
1. Come clean and tell the whole truth about betting on baseball
2. Apologize for betting on baseball
3. Stay as far away from gambling as possible
Rose has failed miserably at those three tasks, as he didn’t tell the truth or apologize until 2004, and he spends most of his time in Las Vegas, signing autographs at memorabilia shops. But signing his name for money has proven to be most lucrative for Rose, as according to Kennedy, Rose pulls down a guaranteed income of $70,000 a month in Las Vegas. Rose also might not have told the whole truth in 2004, when he said he bet on baseball “four or five times a week.” He amended that to saying in 2007 that he bet on baseball “every night.” Is there anything else Rose is saving for his next book?
Pete Rose is a contradiction. On one hand, he seems guileless, unflinchingly honest, and yet he lied about betting on baseball for 15 years. During his playing career, Rose was extremely savvy about cultivating his image as “Charlie Hustle,” by always running to first base on a walk, and always sliding into bases headfirst, whether it was necessary or not. But since he was banned from baseball, Rose seems tone-deaf to how he comes off to the public.
Part of me likes Pete Rose. He was a great baseball player, someone who gave it his all out there on the field every single day he played. I met Pete Rose at a baseball card show to get his autograph, and he seemed like a nice guy in the thirty seconds I talked to him. I even watched his terrible reality show on TLC, “Hits and Mrs.” But he’s also a jerk who bet on baseball and doesn’t really seem to get why that’s such a big deal. And that’s the contradiction of Pete Rose. I think that Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame as a player, but I don’t think Rose should be in the Hall of Fame as long as he’s banned from baseball. I know that the Hall of Fame and Major League Baseball are different organizations, but for me, personally, if you’re banned from one, why should you be in the other?
If you’re interested in Pete Rose’s baseball career, and his post-baseball life, you should read Pete Rose: An American Dilemma. It’s a great introduction to one of baseball’s most controversial figures.
Pete Rose played in his last major league game in 1986 and has been banned from major league baseball since 1989, yet he might still be baseball’s most divisive figure. Lots of ink has been spilled over Rose in the past 25 years, and Kostya Kennedy’s 2014 book Pete Rose: An American Dilemma, is the latest attempt to dissect the life and career of baseball’s all-time hit leader.
Kennedy does a good job of analyzing the different parts of Rose’s life, with detours into the history of Cincinnati, and Pete’s relationship with his brother Dave. A highlight of the book was the section on the baseball career of Rose’s son Pete Rose Jr., who played professional baseball from 1989 until 2009, accumulating just 16 plate appearances and 2 hits in the major leagues in 1997. Like his father, Rose Jr. is a player with a tremendous work ethic. Pete Rose Jr. is now a manager in independent baseball, continuing his love affair with the game.
Pete Rose: An American Dilemma assumes a great deal of familiarity with Rose’s playing career, as it jumps around in chronology and doesn’t cover every year of Rose’s 24-year playing career. I was already quite familiar with Rose’s career, but I wish the book had provided more context for Rose’s remarkable accomplishments.
Throughout the book, Kennedy never really comes down on one side or the other, for or against Rose. Does he think Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame? Does he think that Pete Rose should be reinstated? Kennedy never really says. Kennedy is harsh on Rose throughout the book, yet he clearly feels that the Hall of Fame’s treatment of Rose was unfair when it singled him out and changed the rules in 1991 so he wouldn’t appear on the ballot. The new rule stated that anyone on baseball’s ineligible list could not appear on the ballot for the Hall of Fame. Since Rose was the only player on the ineligible list, the rule change was obviously targeted at him. The Hall of Fame clearly didn’t want to deal with the possibility of Rose being voted into the Hall of Fame while at the same time being banned from baseball, which seems like the biggest oxymoron imaginable.
Pete Rose’s behavior since 1989 is oftentimes incomprehensible to rational people. When it became clear during Major League Baseball’s investigation of his gambling habits that Rose would be banned, Rose and his lawyers fought for a paragraph in the document banning Rose that said he neither admitted nor denied having bet on baseball. This was a ridiculous assertion to make, and I don’t understand why then-Commissioner Bart Giamatti allowed such unclear language into the final document. If Rose wasn’t admitting that he bet on baseball, why was he being banned? If Rose hadn’t bet on baseball, why did he accept the ban? Major League Baseball should have forced Rose to admit in 1989 that he did bet on baseball. Instead, Rose lied for 15 years, not telling the truth and admitting that he bet on baseball until the release of his 2004 autobiography, My Prison Without Bars.
If Pete Rose were a smarter guy he might have been reinstated and be back in baseball by now. But I think he’s a dumb guy who really doesn’t get what he did wrong. He knows that he broke the rules, but he’s never seemed ashamed that he broke the rules. As Kennedy says, Rose isn’t sorry for what he did, he’s only sorry that he got caught. Rose’s half-hearted apologies have never seemed sincere.
In my opinion, in order to have any chance of getting back into baseball, Rose needed to do three things:
1. Come clean and tell the whole truth about betting on baseball
2. Apologize for betting on baseball
3. Stay as far away from gambling as possible
Rose has failed miserably at those three tasks, as he didn’t tell the truth or apologize until 2004, and he spends most of his time in Las Vegas, signing autographs at memorabilia shops. But signing his name for money has proven to be most lucrative for Rose, as according to Kennedy, Rose pulls down a guaranteed income of $70,000 a month in Las Vegas. Rose also might not have told the whole truth in 2004, when he said he bet on baseball “four or five times a week.” He amended that to saying in 2007 that he bet on baseball “every night.” Is there anything else Rose is saving for his next book?
Pete Rose is a contradiction. On one hand, he seems guileless, unflinchingly honest, and yet he lied about betting on baseball for 15 years. During his playing career, Rose was extremely savvy about cultivating his image as “Charlie Hustle,” by always running to first base on a walk, and always sliding into bases headfirst, whether it was necessary or not. But since he was banned from baseball, Rose seems tone-deaf to how he comes off to the public.
Part of me likes Pete Rose. He was a great baseball player, someone who gave it his all out there on the field every single day he played. I met Pete Rose at a baseball card show to get his autograph, and he seemed like a nice guy in the thirty seconds I talked to him. I even watched his terrible reality show on TLC, “Hits and Mrs.” But he’s also a jerk who bet on baseball and doesn’t really seem to get why that’s such a big deal. And that’s the contradiction of Pete Rose. I think that Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame as a player, but I don’t think Rose should be in the Hall of Fame as long as he’s banned from baseball. I know that the Hall of Fame and Major League Baseball are different organizations, but for me, personally, if you’re banned from one, why should you be in the other?
If you’re interested in Pete Rose’s baseball career, and his post-baseball life, you should read Pete Rose: An American Dilemma. It’s a great introduction to one of baseball’s most controversial figures.
January 27, 2020
This book was an amazing read, and I'm so glad that I picked it up. Pete Rose: An American Dilemma covers the controversial career of Pete Rose. Author Kostya Kennedy does a fantastic job of telling stories of Major League Baseball's biggest quarrels, does Rose belong in the Hall of Fame? The legend bet illegally on his own Cincinnati Reds team when he both played for, and managed the organization. Kennedy dives very deep into what Rose was thinking during this time, as well as how his actions got him banned forever from the league. That's right, permanently banned. This issue as well as others is covered in great detail within the book, and should be read by any sports fan interested in the dark side of the game. Kennedy's amazing work deserves nothing but a 5-star rating for her willingness to cover heavily argued subjects while maintaining a great style of writing. Henceforth, if you're looking to read up on the ugly side of pro sports, Pete Rose: An American Dilemma is most definitely what you're looking for.
June 13, 2019
I loved this book. No matter what side of the Pete Rose Hall of Fame debate you are on, it is a great read. This is a very sociological based book, a biography that goes back in Pete's family history, as far back as the Revolutionary War, but it also delves deep into his psyche as a baseball player, son, man, father, and husband.
I've always been a fan of Rose because my grandfather and father had always loved Rose, and I have met him multiple times. This book really helped me understand where he came from and how he came to be the person he was and is today. From reading this book I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't made a biopic of Pete's life up until now, it is full of ups and downs, and he is the ultimate flawed hero, the one that as the more time goes on the harder it is not to like him and see his case for the Hall of Fame.
I've always been a fan of Rose because my grandfather and father had always loved Rose, and I have met him multiple times. This book really helped me understand where he came from and how he came to be the person he was and is today. From reading this book I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't made a biopic of Pete's life up until now, it is full of ups and downs, and he is the ultimate flawed hero, the one that as the more time goes on the harder it is not to like him and see his case for the Hall of Fame.
October 16, 2022
Enjoyed the author's approach at taking a look back at Pete's major personal and professional life events while watching his present (at time of writing) character amidst the annual Cooperstown Hall of Fame festivities. These reflections allow the reader to understand how Rose's perspective regarding gambling/ethics was created from childhood, developed throughout his famed career as well as ultimately changed as the post retirement years continued. A great read into the psyche of the 70s MLB star.
November 23, 2017
As a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s, I hated Pete Rose and his arrogance. This book totally changed my about Pete. Clearly Pete worked hard for everything he achieved and deserved everything he achieved. Does he deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? Initially, I didn’t think so. After reading this book, I think he does deserve to be in the Hall. Will it happen? Probably not in my lifetime. And that’s unfortunate.
May 29, 2019
here's the thing. You ever read sports illustrated? How there's always a long article in the back and it follows the same kind of pattern every time? That's how every chapter of this book was, in that same pattern. It opens with s situation, dances around it, and describes new characters, and then comes back to that situation. Not that I'm complaining, I like those articles in sports illustrated, it just made the book feel disjointed and loose.
October 29, 2021
In a shrine that houses known racists, drug addicts and dealers, mobsters, crooked politicians, and with juicers waiting to move in, it is time that we allow gamblers the chance to enter in as well. Remove him from the list of ineligibles (he's the only one) because America is a nation of second chances. Remove the politics because the baseball Hall of Fame is for the people. We all know he will never dwell in Life's Hall of Fame but he hit and hustled his way into baseball's.
August 28, 2017
Very interesting, and very sad. I still think Pete should be in the Hall of Fame, and I also still think he should not be allowed anywhere near a baseball field, team, or franchise. One of the best lines in the book is where Pete says that gambling is a victimless crime... never realizing that, above the victims in his own family, he is the biggest victim of all. Very honest though... ironically.
August 18, 2020
I am a baseball player, coach, and most of all fan. I enjoyed reading the story about this man that I have idolized as a player my entire life. Although he had struggles through life he always brought it to the yard at full tilt. A fine example of how to succeed in this great sport!
January 29, 2025
Good read - I watched Rose as a kid, but was more of a Dodgers guy. This helped flesh out the details of his gambling problem and how he was taken down. Great ballplayer, but clearly a flawed human.
November 6, 2025
Rose was before my time. I came into baseball with John Smoltz and the Braves. Now it's the Diamondbacks for me.
Still, I'd heard of Rose and wanted to know the story. So much talent but such an inept life. It was a different time, I know, but it was like he had to fill his life with noise.
Still, I'd heard of Rose and wanted to know the story. So much talent but such an inept life. It was a different time, I know, but it was like he had to fill his life with noise.
July 7, 2017
This biography covers both the baseball and personal lives of Pete Rose in a graceful style - not passing judgement on him but - there he is. Very well written and I recommend it highly.
September 6, 2017
Interesting book that fizzled at the end. The last part covered Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews