Post columnist Steve Serby gets inside the head of baseball’s Hit King Pete Rose — to discuss his gambling, Hall of Fame ban, the state of today’s game and his legacy.
Q: With more states, eight and counting, legalizing sports gambling and MLB making MGM Resorts International its “official gaming partner,” and you banned from the Hall of Fame for gambling, how do you feel about that partnership?
A: Listen, I’m not opposed to baseball doing anything to create more revenue for ’em. That’s their business. I thought it was kind of interesting that, as a former manager of a baseball team, that 15 minutes before every game I have to email my lineup to baseball. Then they email it to the MGM, the casinos. I think that’s kind of interesting if you talk about being in bed with somebody — they’re really in bed with them.
Q: How does that make you feel?
A: Listen, I made mistakes and I’m payin’ for ’em. I wish I hadn’t did what I did, but it happened, and it’s part of history. I support baseball. I noticed the other day, home runs are up, strikeouts are up, and attendance is down. That’s not a good scenario for baseball.
Q: Why do you think attendance is down?
A: The way baseball’s played today — and then you got all these damn rule changes — if you watch “SportsCenter” every night, everything’s a replay of a home run. There’s no triples, there’s no get a guy on, steal second, get him to third … there’s no strategy to baseball. You can’t pitch inside, you can’t break up a double play, you can’t run into a catcher. I mean, your hands are tied. I think people are getting turned off by the amount of strikeouts in baseball.
Q: The MGM thing: Does it tick you off?
A: No. … It seems to me like that situation — maybe I’m reading it wrong — is baseball trying to protect the casinos? Why else would a casino be worried about the starting lineup, in case they’re scared of [Clayton] Kershaw getting scratched at game time? And they already took all their bets on Kershaw pitching. What other reason would the MGM want the lineups from major league ballparks if it didn’t have something to do with the sports and race book. Am I missing something?
Q: Is baseball missing something not letting you back in?
A: Let me tell you something: This is the sad part of my career right here, OK? I was born three miles from Crosley Field [in Cincinnati]. … I have never been in the Great American Ballpark clubhouse or the batting cage. I’m not allowed. Are you telling me that I can’t help some young player on the Cincinnati Reds become a better player? With all the baseball knowledge I have and how I can relate to people, you don’t think that I can help any team in baseball be a better team?
Q: Are you resigned that you will not get into the Hall of Fame while you’re alive?
A: Yeah, I’m happy with that. I’m also happy with the fact that I got a statue at the ballpark, I got my number retired, and I’m in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. Which, by the way, is the best Hall of Fame of all 30 teams. Sure, I’d love to go to Cooperstown. My family knows what kind of player I was. My fans know what kind of player I was. I think the commissioner knows what kind of player I was. I made a mistake. I made a mistake. And people understand and I understand I made a mistake, so let you go on with your life.
Q: If the commissioner asked you if you have a gambling problem, what would you tell him?
A: No. I’m the type of guy that I won’t bet on anything I can’t watch. And I live in Vegas where everything’s legal. If I want to bet on a football game, I’m 78 years old, who gives a s–t if I make a bet and go home and watch the game and mind my own business? Am I hurting anybody?
Q: If you could have faced one pitcher in the history of MLB with the game on the line, who would it have been?
A: Maybe Whitey Ford. He was a great pitcher. He was a money pitcher. I don’t know much about all of the pitchers back in the ’30s and the ’40s. It might have been fun hitting off Babe Ruth. He still has pitching records. I’ll argue till the sun goes down, I tell people this every day: Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player in the history of baseball. I don’t think [Wayne] Gretzky could do it. I don’t think Michael Jordan can do it. If you think Tom Brady’s the greatest football ever, I don’t think he can do it. But Babe Ruth did it. What did he do? He saved the sport by going to this town, to that town for a weekend series. Because every time he went into a town, the team sold out all three games, enabled all those teams to grow. Babe Ruth was The Man. Those other guys I mentioned are great. But I just don’t think they have what it takes to save a sport.
Q: Who are the guys in any sport that played like Pete Rose?
A: In my era, a lot of guys played hard. Playing hard don’t mean you have to run to first on a walk. Tony Perez played hard. Johnny Bench played hard. Mike Schmidt played hard. All the great ones played hard. Frank Robinson played as hard as anybody. Back in the ’60s and ’70s, we didn’t have guys that were loafers. We didn’t have guys that were late for spring training, late for practice, missed airplanes, things like that. And we didn’t have guys that had multi-year contracts. If you’re a player, you put it on cruise control. Not everybody. But if I know I’m gonna get paid the next five years $100 million, what am I worried about if I play every game or not? What am I worried about trying to lead the league in doubles or making the All-Star team? My first 16 years in the big leagues was a one-year contract with the Reds.
Q: Who are athletes today who play the way you played?
A: Mike Trout plays hard every day. Bryce Harper plays hard. Now, [Manny] Machado, he don’t necessarily play hard, he’s willing to tell you he’s not going to. That wouldn’t’ have made it in Cincinnati.
Q: How about other than baseball?
A: The guy that plays closest to me I think — I love him — is Russell Westbrook. That guy plays every … damn minute like it’s his last minute, and when the game’s over, the hell with that shaking hands, he’s going to the … damn locker room. I’ve won World Series. Guys from the opposing team are in our clubhouse congratulating us. I could never do that. I might send you a text the next day or something. I just got my ass beat in a World Series, I’m over here happy for you? Who beat me? Bulls—. I don’t need that. I don’t think athletes today need that.
Q: How did the passing of Bill Buckner affect you?
A: I liked Bill Buckner. People will remember him for the wrong reasons. We all make errors. He made an error cost the Red Sox the World Series, helped the Mets win the World Series. I don’t remember that about Bill Buckner, I remember Bill Buckner could hit. He played hard.
https://nypost.com/2019/06/01/pete-...utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter
(There's many more Q & A in the link......
Q: With more states, eight and counting, legalizing sports gambling and MLB making MGM Resorts International its “official gaming partner,” and you banned from the Hall of Fame for gambling, how do you feel about that partnership?
A: Listen, I’m not opposed to baseball doing anything to create more revenue for ’em. That’s their business. I thought it was kind of interesting that, as a former manager of a baseball team, that 15 minutes before every game I have to email my lineup to baseball. Then they email it to the MGM, the casinos. I think that’s kind of interesting if you talk about being in bed with somebody — they’re really in bed with them.
Q: How does that make you feel?
A: Listen, I made mistakes and I’m payin’ for ’em. I wish I hadn’t did what I did, but it happened, and it’s part of history. I support baseball. I noticed the other day, home runs are up, strikeouts are up, and attendance is down. That’s not a good scenario for baseball.
Q: Why do you think attendance is down?
A: The way baseball’s played today — and then you got all these damn rule changes — if you watch “SportsCenter” every night, everything’s a replay of a home run. There’s no triples, there’s no get a guy on, steal second, get him to third … there’s no strategy to baseball. You can’t pitch inside, you can’t break up a double play, you can’t run into a catcher. I mean, your hands are tied. I think people are getting turned off by the amount of strikeouts in baseball.
Q: The MGM thing: Does it tick you off?
A: No. … It seems to me like that situation — maybe I’m reading it wrong — is baseball trying to protect the casinos? Why else would a casino be worried about the starting lineup, in case they’re scared of [Clayton] Kershaw getting scratched at game time? And they already took all their bets on Kershaw pitching. What other reason would the MGM want the lineups from major league ballparks if it didn’t have something to do with the sports and race book. Am I missing something?
Q: Is baseball missing something not letting you back in?
A: Let me tell you something: This is the sad part of my career right here, OK? I was born three miles from Crosley Field [in Cincinnati]. … I have never been in the Great American Ballpark clubhouse or the batting cage. I’m not allowed. Are you telling me that I can’t help some young player on the Cincinnati Reds become a better player? With all the baseball knowledge I have and how I can relate to people, you don’t think that I can help any team in baseball be a better team?
Q: Are you resigned that you will not get into the Hall of Fame while you’re alive?
A: Yeah, I’m happy with that. I’m also happy with the fact that I got a statue at the ballpark, I got my number retired, and I’m in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. Which, by the way, is the best Hall of Fame of all 30 teams. Sure, I’d love to go to Cooperstown. My family knows what kind of player I was. My fans know what kind of player I was. I think the commissioner knows what kind of player I was. I made a mistake. I made a mistake. And people understand and I understand I made a mistake, so let you go on with your life.
Q: If the commissioner asked you if you have a gambling problem, what would you tell him?
A: No. I’m the type of guy that I won’t bet on anything I can’t watch. And I live in Vegas where everything’s legal. If I want to bet on a football game, I’m 78 years old, who gives a s–t if I make a bet and go home and watch the game and mind my own business? Am I hurting anybody?
Q: If you could have faced one pitcher in the history of MLB with the game on the line, who would it have been?
A: Maybe Whitey Ford. He was a great pitcher. He was a money pitcher. I don’t know much about all of the pitchers back in the ’30s and the ’40s. It might have been fun hitting off Babe Ruth. He still has pitching records. I’ll argue till the sun goes down, I tell people this every day: Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player in the history of baseball. I don’t think [Wayne] Gretzky could do it. I don’t think Michael Jordan can do it. If you think Tom Brady’s the greatest football ever, I don’t think he can do it. But Babe Ruth did it. What did he do? He saved the sport by going to this town, to that town for a weekend series. Because every time he went into a town, the team sold out all three games, enabled all those teams to grow. Babe Ruth was The Man. Those other guys I mentioned are great. But I just don’t think they have what it takes to save a sport.
Q: Who are the guys in any sport that played like Pete Rose?
A: In my era, a lot of guys played hard. Playing hard don’t mean you have to run to first on a walk. Tony Perez played hard. Johnny Bench played hard. Mike Schmidt played hard. All the great ones played hard. Frank Robinson played as hard as anybody. Back in the ’60s and ’70s, we didn’t have guys that were loafers. We didn’t have guys that were late for spring training, late for practice, missed airplanes, things like that. And we didn’t have guys that had multi-year contracts. If you’re a player, you put it on cruise control. Not everybody. But if I know I’m gonna get paid the next five years $100 million, what am I worried about if I play every game or not? What am I worried about trying to lead the league in doubles or making the All-Star team? My first 16 years in the big leagues was a one-year contract with the Reds.
Q: Who are athletes today who play the way you played?
A: Mike Trout plays hard every day. Bryce Harper plays hard. Now, [Manny] Machado, he don’t necessarily play hard, he’s willing to tell you he’s not going to. That wouldn’t’ have made it in Cincinnati.
Q: How about other than baseball?
A: The guy that plays closest to me I think — I love him — is Russell Westbrook. That guy plays every … damn minute like it’s his last minute, and when the game’s over, the hell with that shaking hands, he’s going to the … damn locker room. I’ve won World Series. Guys from the opposing team are in our clubhouse congratulating us. I could never do that. I might send you a text the next day or something. I just got my ass beat in a World Series, I’m over here happy for you? Who beat me? Bulls—. I don’t need that. I don’t think athletes today need that.
Q: How did the passing of Bill Buckner affect you?
A: I liked Bill Buckner. People will remember him for the wrong reasons. We all make errors. He made an error cost the Red Sox the World Series, helped the Mets win the World Series. I don’t remember that about Bill Buckner, I remember Bill Buckner could hit. He played hard.
https://nypost.com/2019/06/01/pete-...utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter
(There's many more Q & A in the link......
