Pete Rose Hangs Tough Until the Last Man Is Out

Pete Rose, although he sports a punk rock hairdo, certainly isn’t any punk. Punks have been known to quit. Rose won’t. Before Wednesday night’s game, someone had the gall to mention next year, and Rose said, “Next question.”

“This season ain’t over,” he went on to say, although the Dodger magic number was one.

Two hours three minutes later, the number was none.

Carmelo Martinez officially made Los Angeles the champion, homering in the eighth on a Tom Hume slider, giving the San Diego Padres a 5-4 victory over Cincinnati and handing the Dodgers the National League West title while their game with Atlanta was still in progress.

Afterward, Rose sat in his office alone. His drenched T-shirt said: “Hustling toward the record.” Reporters hustled in. He rubbed his fingers through his hair, which had one extra long strand in the back (the punk effect). He fidgeted in his chair and banged his knee. Ouch, he said.

Now, any questions about next year?

“Well,” he said, “I know the guys in this clubhouse can’t wait for next season to start.”

And they couldn’t, of course. While the Dodgers would drink champagne, Dave Parker drank Lite Beer from Miller. There was a burp.

“This proved one thing,” Parker said, after excusing himself. “That we could win the division. All you baseball professionals said we didn’t have a chance. Well, now, our young players know we can win it. That’s a great accomplishment right there. These guys actually know we can win it. We didn’t give up hope. All we could do was keep playing. And there’s no such thing as giving up with a manager like we’ve got.”

Inevitably, then, the credit all comes back to Rose, because of who he is and for what he has done.

Cincinnati lost 92 games in 1984.

Now, they have lost 70.

Ninety-two minus 70 equals 22. Simple arithmetic explains the difference.

So who is Pete Rose? He’s this: Before Wednesday’s game, he was congratulated on a winning season. Boy, he was mad.

“I don’t want my players to think we won,” he said. “It’s just like I didn’t want my players to approach the season saying: ‘Hey, we finished fifth last season (in ‘84); maybe we can get to third or second.’ I want them to understand what it takes to win instead of coming in second. . . . This year will bring a lot of good memories, but it’s real important that we keep going. We’ve changed the attitude of the people in Cincinnati--the fans, the front office. We got baseball going in the right direction. It was going in the wrong direction before.”

So who is Pete Rose? He is this: Before Wednesday’s game, he said: “I think we would’ve been a better team for the playoffs (than the Dodgers). We’d have been a charging team, a hot team. . . . They had a great year, but the way we played the last month will make both teams better next year. I mean, they had to be scoreboard watching. We put them in a race. For us, it was good because you don’t have to be in the actual playoffs to get playoff experience.”

So who is Pete Rose? He is this: Asked about his season, in which he has hit in the .260s and broken Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record, he said: “I did all right. And I’ll do better next year. I won’t be tired from the press. I was hitting .296 a couple weeks before the All-Star break. But I did a bunch of long interviews with Time and Sports Illustrated and Newsweek and I dropped to about .268. I got a little tired. I’m not complaining, though. It was fun.”

So who is Pete Rose? He is this: Before the game, the Padres held a ceremony, commemorating his hit record. They showed a genuine (MTV would have been impressed) music video that included Rose highlights. He was given a standing ovation by the 12,373 fans.

So who is Pete Rose? He is this: Even though his team is eliminated, he will not rest Dave Parker, giving the outfielder the opportunity to continue his race for MVP. Parker concurred, saying: “I’m still in the RBI race, man.”

So who is Pete Rose? He is this: Steve Garvey, commenting on Rose’s career, said: “He should pass the Hall of Fame and move right into the Smithsonian.”

But where is Pete Rose? He’s in second place. And, you know, Garvey was kind of happy for the Dodgers.

“If we can’t win, I’m glad they did,” he said. “I have many friends there. I say to them: ‘Best of luck. I’ll be watching.’ You know, I congratulated Tom (Lasorda) the other night, but only briefly. I let him go back to his postgame meal. He had quite a spread there.”