Pete Rose

If you are reading this, you are likely someone who knows that Pete Rose is attempting to get released from his lifelong banishment from Major League Baseball.  

I like Pete Rose.  Last year I went with a friend to hear Pete talk at an event in Dayton, Ohio.  It was fun, but it was also a little weird.  The man was dressed so casually that you might have thought he had been told about the event only moments before.  But, because Pete is a story teller, he came out without any notes and told us stories that kept our attention for ... I don't remember how long.  Two hours?  

In 1975 I was coming to consciousness of major league sports.  Baseball was, and remains, my first love.  I watch some NFL, especially around playoff time, and even more especially if the teams I love or the players I watch are involved.  I never watch any NBA games, though I'm keeping one eye on the sports pages (online, anyway), because I'm a lifelong Cleveland fan, and, gosh, it is a possibility.  I don't pay any attention to hockey at all.  College basketball I do track a bit, especially as a Buckeye fan.  College football, ditto.

But baseball is my sport love.  And, when I was becoming sport-conscious back in 1975, it was a tremendous year to be an Ohio fan.  I watched the Reds and Red Sox, which meant watching Pete Rose hustle, Joe Morgan twitch at bat, and Luis Tiant's bizarre windup.  Though Morgan was my favorite back then, I wish now that he would never ever ever ever talk politics.  Kind of spoils his good image in my head.  

But Pete?  Man... sometimes you wish he would just keep quiet.  

His stories are great.  I've read stories of him in various books over the years.  One of my favorites was of how much fun he had in game 6, even though the Reds lost that one, back in 1975.  His child-like love for the game, even as his team loses a critical game, was a beautiful thing to me.  His hustle was wonderful.  

When I look at his lifetime numbers, I can't help but seeing that he was essentially an accumulator.  But what Hall of Famer wasn't?  Rare are the guys who, like Ruth, could have had Hall of Fame careers if they had played 7 to 10 years less than they did.  Pete wouldn't have.  

So what.

As a ball player I love the man.

But, honestly, if he gets released from this "capital punishment" at this point, how can we not question the integrity of the game?  There's far more evidence of Pete's wrong-doing, even from his own lips, than there ever has been for Shoeless Joe Jackson.  How about we forgive Shoeless first--a genuine Hall of Fame caliber player.  

Sorry, man.  

Book Review: "They Call Me Sparky"

This book appealed to me as an Ohio baseball fan.  I cut my baseball teeth in 1975, the first of two World Series victories by the real Big Red Machine.  While the rest of my family visited with my grandparents, I was in their bedroom watching the games one night after another.  I don't recall whether I watched any games from our own home, three hours to the north.  I only remember watching my favorite players from that bedroom.  

I had my own Joe Morgan twitch.  Second base was my position at the time, though my hard-throwing arm led me to third eventually.  But, as a second baseman, my hero was very clear.  I also loved the stolen base, and who, on the Reds anyway, was better at that than Joe Morgan?  

Well... maybe Davey.

Hmm... I'm getting distracted.  

"They Call Me Sparky", by Sparky Anderson and Dan Ewald was a fun read for me mostly due to my Reds fandom, but also because Sparky was such an interesting character.  That character comes through in this book!

For the first few chapters, I had the impression that only a Sparky fan could endure the book.  It felt choppy.  But, as I continued reading, I found the format kind of fun, and began looking forward to the variety.  Every other chapter is written clearly in Sparky's voice (even down to the grammar), the other chapters being in the voice of Mr Ewald, narrating the stories of Sparky's life.  The more narrative chapters fill in some gaps in the stories, whereas the chapters in Sparky's voice seem like interviews.  

Miss those interviews with Sparky?  Those chapters are definitely for you.  Heh heh heh.

Fun read, especially for Reds or Tigers fans. 

Rangers vs Cardinals, Please!

I have been a Nolan Ryan fan for as long as I can remember baseball.  My first set of baseball cards were the Topps cards that showed stats from 1974.  I read about this strike out phenomenon and was an immediate fan.  Baseball drew me by its numbers, and Ryan had ridiculous numbers.  In 1974 he started 41 games, completed 26 of them, pitched 332 innings, struck out 367 (less than he had the previous year), but walked over 200 batters.  I suppose that may have been why he only placed third in the Cy Young award.  Still, he was ripped off.  Catfish Hunter?  Whatever.  I remember living in Little Rock, Arkansas when he was coming to the end of his incredible and long career.  One of my life regrets is NOT heading down the highway to see him pitch in Arlington.  Ah, well.

Oh, and I loved it when he did commercials a few years later--about aspirin, if I remember right.  He was still blurring the ball past batters.  A workhorse unlike anything that is on a mound these days.

In recent years, I've been captivated by the numbers and character of Albert Pujols.  Though I'm not a Cardinals fan, I've cheered for them because of him.  You may already know that I'm first an Indians fan, then a Reds fan (being an Ohio boy).  Well, I spread out to the general Midwest after that (and cheer against the Left and East coast teams..... although I do still cheer for former Indians like Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, and Victor Martinez).

So... pulling together these two fan-ness's (totally botched that made up word, eh?), I'm hoping to see the Cardinals and the Rangers in the World Series.  If they both make it, I don't think I'll care which one wins.  If one of them doesn't, but the other does, I'll have a team to cheer for.  If neither does... Brewers versus Detroit?  Hmm... nah.

Go Nolan, go Josh Hamilton, and go Pujols.