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Hustle: Myth and Life of Pete Rose
Who is Pete Rose? Is he Charlie Hustle, the all-American kid who never grew up, who pushed and stretched himself to get the most out of his limited talent, who would do anything in his power to win and to be a part of the game he loved? Or is he the bloated ex-athlete who broke baseball's one absolute taboo, and who was willing to drag down the whole structure of the sport to save himself? In January 2004, Pete Rose publicly admitted to betting on baseball and began his controversial campaign to get himself off the ineligible list and into the Baseball Hall of Fame. His recently published autobiography, the baseball legend's selective telling of the truth, only furthers the myth and the mystery that surrounds him. With a new, updated introduction by the author, and packed with interviews with Rose's family, his teammates, sportswriters, and police investigators, Hustle is the real, objective story of the life of Pete Rose.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1990
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August 22, 2025
The definitive book on the tragic fall of this once beloved American sports hero and icon.
Rose, the "little engine that could", "Charlie Hustle", PROOF that in America, ANYONE who hustled ,ran hard and kept working can rise to the top.
Rose was an extension of the American dream and that is all that people saw.
Rose did not "turn bad" in his later years. He WAS bad from the beginning. Pete started gambling at the race tracks way back in 1964, and his gambling addiction just grew and grew in front of his team, until finally the League office had enough and banned him from baseball back in 1989.
It amazes me how so many fools on the internet still worship this guy and deny the mountain of proof and evidence and testimony presented in court to tie Rose to betting on pro sports and even his game, baseball and in games his team was playing in while he was an active player and manager.
His phone records show this. People forget that Rose was convicted and did time in federal prison for tax fraud, not claiming income from baseball memorabilia that he sold.
Rose polluted his team's clubhouse by inviting his known drug dealing friends and bookies inside this restricted area. He exposed his own players to this crowd and the ownership/management of the Reds gave in and permitted it. He was a terrible manager for the Reds and wasted that opportunity.
He was selfish in his blind pursuit of Ty Cobb's all time hits record.
Rose had a long record of his disrespectful treatment of women, including his two wives. He had a very long history of not paying his gambling debts (somehow!)
He had very few close friends as his personality was always turned inside to himself, and he really did not allow anyone to get close to him. He did not smoke, drink. or do cocaine, but he hung out with a bad crowd.
One redeeming factor for Rose was his exemplary treatment of the black players on his team, like Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson. He and his wife would associate with these players after hours even though the team management told him not to. He stood up for them. Yes, baseball , and America were still that bad back then.
The final two chapters of this book, "What Baseball Knew" and "The Final Days" detail the final unveiling of the real Pete Rose.
In short, this well documented book, by a serious journalist, not just a baseball writer, clears the air and reveals this highly exalted- then later fallen American icon.
Rose, the "little engine that could", "Charlie Hustle", PROOF that in America, ANYONE who hustled ,ran hard and kept working can rise to the top.
Rose was an extension of the American dream and that is all that people saw.
Rose did not "turn bad" in his later years. He WAS bad from the beginning. Pete started gambling at the race tracks way back in 1964, and his gambling addiction just grew and grew in front of his team, until finally the League office had enough and banned him from baseball back in 1989.
It amazes me how so many fools on the internet still worship this guy and deny the mountain of proof and evidence and testimony presented in court to tie Rose to betting on pro sports and even his game, baseball and in games his team was playing in while he was an active player and manager.
His phone records show this. People forget that Rose was convicted and did time in federal prison for tax fraud, not claiming income from baseball memorabilia that he sold.
Rose polluted his team's clubhouse by inviting his known drug dealing friends and bookies inside this restricted area. He exposed his own players to this crowd and the ownership/management of the Reds gave in and permitted it. He was a terrible manager for the Reds and wasted that opportunity.
He was selfish in his blind pursuit of Ty Cobb's all time hits record.
Rose had a long record of his disrespectful treatment of women, including his two wives. He had a very long history of not paying his gambling debts (somehow!)
He had very few close friends as his personality was always turned inside to himself, and he really did not allow anyone to get close to him. He did not smoke, drink. or do cocaine, but he hung out with a bad crowd.
One redeeming factor for Rose was his exemplary treatment of the black players on his team, like Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson. He and his wife would associate with these players after hours even though the team management told him not to. He stood up for them. Yes, baseball , and America were still that bad back then.
The final two chapters of this book, "What Baseball Knew" and "The Final Days" detail the final unveiling of the real Pete Rose.
In short, this well documented book, by a serious journalist, not just a baseball writer, clears the air and reveals this highly exalted- then later fallen American icon.
December 28, 2014
Pete Rose is a jerk who bet on baseball. That’s the conclusion I’m left with at the end of Michael Sokolove’s excellent 1990 book Hustle: The Myth, Life, and Lies of Pete Rose. Although Sokolove’s book is nearly twenty five years old, and appeared just a year after Rose was handed down a lifetime ban from baseball, it’s still an impressive piece of journalism. Sokolove did his homework, as he interviewed 112 people in the course of writing Hustle, and the book thoroughly covers Rose’s life and career. Hustle was reissued in 2005 with a new introduction, which covers Rose’s 2004 admission that he did bet on baseball. Sokolove writes of Rose’s behavior in 2004, “In the broadcast interviews he gave to promote the book, he could barely bring himself to express what sounded like true remorse. Sometimes he complained that he just wasn’t very good at saying he was sorry-a trait common in people who actually aren’t sorry.” (p.7)
I recently read Kostya Kennedy’s excellent 2014 book on Rose, Pete Rose: An American Dilemma, and while Kennedy’s book takes Rose’s story up to date, Sokolove’s Hustle is a more in-depth look at Rose’s gambling on baseball. Hustle is essential reading for any baseball fan.
Sokolove is tough on Rose, but the book is by no means a hatchet job. With that being said, I don’t know how anyone could read Hustle and still be on Rose’s side. Looking back, it’s rather ridiculous that Rose kept denying he bet on baseball until finally admitting it in 2004.
One of the best chapters in Hustle is “Playing the Press,” which details how Rose was able to keep sportswriters writing positive stories about him until the gambling scandal broke in 1989. Rose’s friendliness with sportswriters might have been a reason why sportswriters never wrote about Rose’s gambling problem until after the scandal began to break. Sportswriters loved Pete Rose, and even a baseball writer as smart as Bill James was an apologist for Pete Rose. In his 2001 book The New Bill James Historical Abstract, James spends six pages attacking the Dowd Report and casting doubt on the evidence that Rose bet on baseball. Of course, read today, it makes James sound foolish. It also makes it clear that James didn’t read Hustle.
Sokolove also details that major league baseball knew that Rose had a gambling problem long before 1989. Baseball had been investigating Rose since the early 1970’s, and while their investigation didn’t show that Rose was betting on baseball, it was clear that he was a big racetrack gambler. As Sokolove writes, “Before Rose was even halfway to Cobb’s hit record, the office of baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn had identified him as a problem gambler-and a probable violator of the game’s rules against gambling ‘associations.’” (p.199) For whatever reason, major league baseball didn’t want to touch Pete Rose, perhaps because of his standing as one of the most popular players in the game. However, Bowie Kuhn, commissioner of baseball from 1969-1984, was very tough on star players connected to gambling, as he handed down a three month suspension to pitcher Denny McLain in 1970 for associating with gamblers. Kuhn also handed out lifetime bans to living legends Willie Mays in 1980 and Mickey Mantle in 1983 for merely being greeters at casinos. Mantle and Mays were both reinstated by new commissioner Peter Ueberroth in 1985, perhaps the most popular decision any commissioner has ever made. So why wasn’t Kuhn tougher on Rose? If baseball was willing to act against Denny McLain, who was coming off of back to back Cy Young Awards, why didn’t baseball act against Pete Rose? There’s no easy answer to that question.
Throughout Hustle, Sokolove details the many ways in which Pete Rose didn’t expect the rules of life to apply to him. Rose lived a selfish life, with little regard for what the consequences might be. When those consequences never came, Rose was further emboldened in his bad behavior. One of the most shocking revelations of Hustle was the fact that Rose would never fully repay his gambling debts. When he began losing too much, he merely moved on to another bookie. Rose was lucky he never ended up with a broken hand from an irate bookie. Sokolove writes about Rose: “Rose continues to rail against the Dowd Report and major league baseball’s treatment of him because he truly believes he was treated unfairly. He wasn’t. He was treated, for the first time, like an adult, which was so unfamiliar to him that he mistook it for unfairness.” (p.291)
Sokolove also understands the contradiction of Pete Rose, and other athletes: that a man can be a great baseball player and at the same time be a terrible human being. Rose went to jail in 1990 for income tax evasion, and Sokolove writes in the afterword of the book, “What Pete Rose leaves to the game he loved, his legacy, is not romance but a disquieting reality: A man can belong both in the Hall of Fame and in federal prison.” (p.292)
I used to be more ambivalent about Pete Rose. I was 8 years old when he was banned from baseball. I knew that he was a great player, but I didn’t really have an opinion on whether or not he bet on baseball. As I got older, I assumed he probably had because why else would he have accepted the lifetime ban? When I was in college, around 1999 or 2000, I remember reading an article on Sports Illustrated’s website about the Dowd Report, and wanting the evidence that Rose had bet on baseball to be more compelling. Then when Rose finally admitted in 2004 that he did bet on baseball, I was disappointed in him for lying for so long. I remember watching Rose on “The Tonight Show” in 2004 and thinking to myself, “He just doesn’t understand that he did anything wrong, he doesn’t get it.” I softened a little on Rose when I watched his stupid reality show, “Hits and Mrs.” in 2013. But reading Hustle has made up my mind firmly on Pete Rose: he doesn’t deserve to be reinstated and let back into baseball. If and when Pete Rose ever truly changes his ways, maybe he can get back into baseball. But until then, he will remain on the outside looking in.
I recently read Kostya Kennedy’s excellent 2014 book on Rose, Pete Rose: An American Dilemma, and while Kennedy’s book takes Rose’s story up to date, Sokolove’s Hustle is a more in-depth look at Rose’s gambling on baseball. Hustle is essential reading for any baseball fan.
Sokolove is tough on Rose, but the book is by no means a hatchet job. With that being said, I don’t know how anyone could read Hustle and still be on Rose’s side. Looking back, it’s rather ridiculous that Rose kept denying he bet on baseball until finally admitting it in 2004.
One of the best chapters in Hustle is “Playing the Press,” which details how Rose was able to keep sportswriters writing positive stories about him until the gambling scandal broke in 1989. Rose’s friendliness with sportswriters might have been a reason why sportswriters never wrote about Rose’s gambling problem until after the scandal began to break. Sportswriters loved Pete Rose, and even a baseball writer as smart as Bill James was an apologist for Pete Rose. In his 2001 book The New Bill James Historical Abstract, James spends six pages attacking the Dowd Report and casting doubt on the evidence that Rose bet on baseball. Of course, read today, it makes James sound foolish. It also makes it clear that James didn’t read Hustle.
Sokolove also details that major league baseball knew that Rose had a gambling problem long before 1989. Baseball had been investigating Rose since the early 1970’s, and while their investigation didn’t show that Rose was betting on baseball, it was clear that he was a big racetrack gambler. As Sokolove writes, “Before Rose was even halfway to Cobb’s hit record, the office of baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn had identified him as a problem gambler-and a probable violator of the game’s rules against gambling ‘associations.’” (p.199) For whatever reason, major league baseball didn’t want to touch Pete Rose, perhaps because of his standing as one of the most popular players in the game. However, Bowie Kuhn, commissioner of baseball from 1969-1984, was very tough on star players connected to gambling, as he handed down a three month suspension to pitcher Denny McLain in 1970 for associating with gamblers. Kuhn also handed out lifetime bans to living legends Willie Mays in 1980 and Mickey Mantle in 1983 for merely being greeters at casinos. Mantle and Mays were both reinstated by new commissioner Peter Ueberroth in 1985, perhaps the most popular decision any commissioner has ever made. So why wasn’t Kuhn tougher on Rose? If baseball was willing to act against Denny McLain, who was coming off of back to back Cy Young Awards, why didn’t baseball act against Pete Rose? There’s no easy answer to that question.
Throughout Hustle, Sokolove details the many ways in which Pete Rose didn’t expect the rules of life to apply to him. Rose lived a selfish life, with little regard for what the consequences might be. When those consequences never came, Rose was further emboldened in his bad behavior. One of the most shocking revelations of Hustle was the fact that Rose would never fully repay his gambling debts. When he began losing too much, he merely moved on to another bookie. Rose was lucky he never ended up with a broken hand from an irate bookie. Sokolove writes about Rose: “Rose continues to rail against the Dowd Report and major league baseball’s treatment of him because he truly believes he was treated unfairly. He wasn’t. He was treated, for the first time, like an adult, which was so unfamiliar to him that he mistook it for unfairness.” (p.291)
Sokolove also understands the contradiction of Pete Rose, and other athletes: that a man can be a great baseball player and at the same time be a terrible human being. Rose went to jail in 1990 for income tax evasion, and Sokolove writes in the afterword of the book, “What Pete Rose leaves to the game he loved, his legacy, is not romance but a disquieting reality: A man can belong both in the Hall of Fame and in federal prison.” (p.292)
I used to be more ambivalent about Pete Rose. I was 8 years old when he was banned from baseball. I knew that he was a great player, but I didn’t really have an opinion on whether or not he bet on baseball. As I got older, I assumed he probably had because why else would he have accepted the lifetime ban? When I was in college, around 1999 or 2000, I remember reading an article on Sports Illustrated’s website about the Dowd Report, and wanting the evidence that Rose had bet on baseball to be more compelling. Then when Rose finally admitted in 2004 that he did bet on baseball, I was disappointed in him for lying for so long. I remember watching Rose on “The Tonight Show” in 2004 and thinking to myself, “He just doesn’t understand that he did anything wrong, he doesn’t get it.” I softened a little on Rose when I watched his stupid reality show, “Hits and Mrs.” in 2013. But reading Hustle has made up my mind firmly on Pete Rose: he doesn’t deserve to be reinstated and let back into baseball. If and when Pete Rose ever truly changes his ways, maybe he can get back into baseball. But until then, he will remain on the outside looking in.
December 21, 2025
I do believe Pete Rose was an awesome, gifted ballplayer.
When I started the book, I wondered if at the end I'd still feel the same about his not being in the hall of fame.
I still feel the same: nope.
When I started the book, I wondered if at the end I'd still feel the same about his not being in the hall of fame.
I still feel the same: nope.
January 23, 2020
Terrible. The writing and format of this book is awful. Save yourself the pain and read a book by someone else.
did-not-finish-or-start
July 14, 2021DNS 7/14/2021
August 8, 2012
While I don't like to use the expression that FOX "News" network has co-opted, "fair and well-balanced", I would have to say that the phrase applies when describing this book. This book reminds us that there really is no black and white; that every person is made up of subtle shades of grey. Pete Rose is no exception. He did a lot of questionable things, yet was one of the least prejudiced people on his teams. He resisted attempts by the Cincinnati Reds' organization (in the early 1960s) to not befriend black players, but Rose would not listen. His best friend in the minor leagues was Art Shamsky, a Jewish player. Rose was not concerned with labels and stereotypes, and this probably has a lot to do with his own hardscrabble early years growing up in Cincinnati. Pete Rose hurt himself more than he hurt other people, although Nick Esasky, an up-and-coming first baseman with the Reds in the 80s under Rose's management, would probably have something to say about that in his own case! This is a must-read to really understand the complexities, the contradictions, the man, Pete Rose.
September 17, 2013
Very thorough examination of not only the downfall of Pete Rose, but all that led up to that point. Excellent examination of Rose's character and all angles and potential arguments are covered. Important to remember that most of this text was written during the time when most still felt Rose was a sympathetic figure. Author does a great job of separating the ballplayer from the man and what built up the ballplayer took down the man.
November 29, 2016
Well I am truly disappointed. Pete Rose was a dick. Or so this book claims.
The book wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be. I wouldn't recommend it.
Two of my childhood heroes crushed. Pete Rose and O J Simpson. Is anything sacred? I guess Pete didn't kill his wife. He is still one of the greatest baseball players ever. I still feel he should be in the Hall of Fame. (There are plenty of other dicks in there already.)
The book wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be. I wouldn't recommend it.
Two of my childhood heroes crushed. Pete Rose and O J Simpson. Is anything sacred? I guess Pete didn't kill his wife. He is still one of the greatest baseball players ever. I still feel he should be in the Hall of Fame. (There are plenty of other dicks in there already.)
May 10, 2011
Interesting insight into the fall of Pete Rose....no holds barred...you actually feel sympathetic because Rose seems to be an individual without empathy for ANYONE and without too many real brains.
"Street Smart" folks aren't real bright.
"Street Smart" folks aren't real bright.
November 9, 2013
I still think Pete deserves to be in The Hall. He may be a man who thinks he's above the law, denied ever betting on Baseball, and hung with suspect people, but that does not take away his talent, tenacity and his love for the game. We will probably never see the likes of anyone like this again.
July 26, 2018
Had this book on my shelf for several years and never read since I knew so much about Rose and his banishment from baseball. Picked up the other day and couldn't put down. A really thorough, fair look at Rose the player and man.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews