Baseball Always Came First for Rose : ‘Charlie Hustle’ Gave Everything He Had to the Game He Loved

It was typical of Pete Rose to mention his newborn daughter and somehow tie it all to baseball.

Because even more than family, baseball has been his life.

Less than an hour after he was banned from the game on gambling allegations Thursday, Rose linked daughter Cara’s birth with the date he will be eligible to apply for reinstatement.

“I’ve never looked forward to a birthday like I’m looking forward to my new daughter’s birthday because two days after that I can apply for reinstatement,” he said.

Rose and baseball hooked up more than 40 years ago in the western hills of Cincinnati, where Rose spent most of his career and where his heart will always reside.

“I love the Reds,” he said Thursday. “My middle name should be Reds. This is the greatest place in the world to play ball, the center of the baseball world.”

As a youngster, Rose fell in love with baseball swinging at his brother’s pitches in daily stickball games against the side of a seafood restaurant.

He showed even then that if he lacked the natural ability of a superstar, he had that something extra that earned him the nickname “Charlie Hustle.”

He celebrated each walk with a sprint to first base. He scowled at each pitch as it found the catcher’s glove. He traveled from base to base with a series of head-first slides.

Every game was an event, every at-bat an ultimate challenge, every hit another small step toward the Hall of Fame.

“Pete will tell you this: He was an average ballplayer,” said Paul Nohr, Rose’s high school baseball coach. “He was not exceptional. I don’t think there’s any question that his desire is what put him ahead.”

His place in history was established when he broke Ty Cobb’s seemingly unbreakable record of 4,191 hits. Rose finished with 4,256.

A switch-hitter, he also holds the records for most games (3,562), most at-bats (14,053), most singles (3,215), most seasons with at least 200 hits (10), and most games on a winning team (1,972). He holds the National League records for most years played (24), most career runs (2,165) and most career doubles (746).

“I’ve never approached baseball as work,” he said, after getting hit No. 4,192. “I’ve always thought of myself as a grown-up playing a kid’s game. It’s been fun.”

The fun, combined with his burning desire, made him one of the most adored and hated players when he reached the major leagues.

He was the game’s most determined player, understanding his limitations and making the most of his strengths--hitting and hustle.

Two incidents shaped Rose’s image: a home-plate collision with Cleveland’s Ray Fosse as Rose scored the winning run at Riverfront Stadium in the 1970 All-Star Game, and a scrape with the New York Mets’ Bud Harrelson after a hard slide at second base in the 1973 playoffs.

Fosse was never the same player after that; Rose is still less than revered in New York though he and Harrelson, now a Mets’ coach, are friends.

Former New York Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford nicknamed Rose “Charlie Hustle” after watching him in a spring training game.

Rose went on to hit .273 as a crew-cut rookie second baseman for the Reds in 1963, earning National League Rookie of the Year honors.

Rose used to take his son, Pete Jr., to games and teach him about baseball.

“I told him who to watch,” Rose said. “I said if you want to be a catcher, watch Johnny Bench. If you want to be a right-handed power hitter, watch Mike Schmidt. If you just want to be a hitter, watch me.”

He won batting titles in 1968, 1969 and 1973, was the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1973 and the World Series MVP in 1975, and was chosen for 17 All-Star games during a playing career that included 16 seasons in Cincinnati, five in Philadelphia, and a half-year in Montreal. He returned to the Reds as player-manager on Aug. 16, 1984, and played for two more seasons.

Rose’s statistics give him Hall of Fame credentials, but it was his pursuit of two of the game’s most cherished records that made him the best-known player of his day.

He hit in a modern-day NL-record 44 consecutive games in the summer of 1978, when the nation watched him chase Joe DiMaggio’s legendary 56-game streak.

And he became baseball’s all-time hits leader with a first-inning single off San Diego’s Eric Show on Sept. 11, 1985--passing Ty Cobb’s previous record of 4,191 exactly 57 years to the day after Cobb’s last at-bat. He shed his first tears as a baseball player after reaching first base that historic night at Riverfront Stadium.

His last career at-bat was a strikeout as a pinch hitter against San Diego’s Goose Gossage on Aug. 17, 1986.

Rose’s love of the game is so intense that he couldn’t bring himself to announce his retirement. He eventually admitted he wouldn’t play anymore, but didn’t want a fuss made over the fact he would never dig into a batter’s box again.

Everyone figured it was just a matter of time before Rose--who embodied the game like the great players of other generations--would take his place in the Hall of Fame.

“His 4,192 hits is a tribute to his great talent and strength, his indomitable spirit and his iron will,” former commissioner Peter Ueberroth said when Rose surpassed Cobb. “Not only has he reserved a prominent spot in Cooperstown, he has reserved a special place in the heart of every fan alive today and every baseball fan to come.”

“Your record may be broken, but your reputation and legacy are secure,” former President Ronald Reagan told Rose after hit No. 4,192.

His reputation as a manager is not nearly as secure.

The Reds have finished second in the National League West the last four seasons. And Rose’s shove of umpire Dave Pallone last season drew a one-month suspension and touched off one of the ugliest moments in Riverfront Stadium history, as fans littered the field and threw objects at the umpires.

And now, his baseball legacy is being reshaped by the gambling allegations that have prompted Rose’s banishment from the game. He is still expected to go on the Hall of Fame ballot when he’s eligible in 1992, but he finds himself in the painful position of having to defend his qualifications.

“Four thousand, two hundred fifty-six hits. 2,200 runs. That’s all I did,” Rose said. “I’m a Hall of Famer.”

On Thursday, however, he was more philosophical about it.

“I did my part to get in the Hall of Fame,” he said. “It’s up to you people who do the voting. I got all the hits and scored all the runs and won all the games. I can’t worry about something that’s not in my control.”