Pete Rose: Baseball's Charlie Hustle

by Mike Towle

BASEBALL LEGEND—AMERICAN HERO Years after being banned from Major League Baseball “for life” because of alleged sports gambling, Pete Rose continues to be a colorful and controversial newsmaker. His frequent appeals to Commissioner Bud Selig for reinstatement have had the overwhelming support of fans, reflecting the enthusiasm Rose brought to the game and the passion he has generated over the years. Rose played twenty-four seasons before retiring in 1986 with numerous records; most career hits (4,256), most games played (3,562), most at-bats (14,053), most seasons with 200 or more hits (10), and most winning games played in (1,972). During a career with the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, and Montreal Expos, Rose was the National League’s Rookie of the Year in 1963 and its Most Valuable Player in 1973. In addition to winning three batting titles and two Gold Glove Awards, he also was the World Series MVP with Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine” team that won the 1975 world championship. In Pete Baseball’s Charlie Hustle, dozens of the people who know him best—teammates, opposing players, friends, fans, hometown acquaintances, and baseball experts—share their memories of the man and the player. Among the many aspects of his life explored are his competitive zeal even as a Little Leaguer, his athletic success in high school, his on-fields scrapes and collisions, his leadership role on the Big Red Machine, his leaving the Reds to join the Phillies, his record-setting 44-games hitting streak, his pursuit of Ty Cobb’s all-time hits record, his turbulent days as manager of the Reds, his banishment from baseball, and his various enterprises after baseball.

227 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2003

Reviews

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a great baseball book, talks about one of the greatest baseball players ever to not be in the hall of fame.

Pete Rose, if you want to get a lot of knowledge on this book or know a lot about Rose, read this book. it also sums up why hes not in the hall of fame. but i already knew that before reading this book. pete rose has the most hits of all time, world series champion and hes not in the hall of fame? why? did he do steroids? no. hes clean, he just had a gambling problem. he placed bets on his team. know nobody knows if he placed bets on his team to lose or to win. those are mysteries that will never be solved, but if you saw the way this man played, you would believe he made bets on his team winning. this book also covers one of the scarcest moments in all star game history. know just remember its an all star game, the game dosent count its just for the fans. as pete rose is rounding third base he completely just trucks Fosse, which was catching and never was the same after that. people say that hit ended Fosse's career.

i would recommended this book to any baseball fan.