Rose Applauds Ripken, Bides Time Hit King Relives His Moment, Looks For Baseball To Recover

A decade after Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb’s career hit record, baseball’s most famous exile hasn’t lost his competitive spirit.

The 53-year-old Rose watched on television Sept. 6 as Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s longevity record at Baltimore’s Camden Yards and praised it as representing “everything that was good about the game of baseball.”

“It reminded me of my evening,” Rose said Monday in a phone interview from his sports cafe in Boca Raton. “The reaction of the people was overwhelming. He’s kind of a hometown hero. I’m from Cincinnati. That was the similarity.

“The difference was we didn’t know when I was going to do it. When you know ahead of time, you can really plan something.”

Ripken got a standing ovation that lasted more than 22 minutes. Rose noted his standing ovation was 9 minutes, but that didn’t include a jog around the field.

“I was overwhelmed by the support of fans of baseball and the Cincinnati Reds,” Rose said. “A 9-minute standing ovation … you have to understand how that feels.”

Rose hit a line drive single off San Diego’s Eric Show on Sept. 11, 1985, to break the record of the Georgia Peach with hit number 4,192. Rose ended up with 4,256 hits in a career that spanned from 1963 to 1986.

Rose said his hit record and Henry Aaron’s home run record were different from the consecutive games played because “the other records had to do with talent, although you have to have talent to play every night. You can get a guy who’s a great defensive player who could play 2,000 games in a row.”

“Charlie Hustle” admires the talent and effort by many of the best players today, but doubts the big career hitting and pitching records will be broken.

“There’s going to be someone come down the pike to get the 56-game hitting streak (now held by Joe DiMaggio) and there’s a possibility of 62 home runs. But most of the records that have anything to do with longevity are safe,” he said.

He cited the higher pay scale that allows players to retire earlier combined with the teams’ unwillingness to pay huge salaries to talented players as they get older and abilities begin to fade.

Rose was banned from baseball six years ago for gambling, a move that has blocked the doors to the baseball Hall of Fame for now. He says he doesn’t gamble on athletic events anymore, but does place an occasional bet at big horse-racing events like the Kentucky Derby or the Breeder’s Cup.

While he may not have official ties to baseball, Rose has developed quite an industry around his role as the “Hit King.”

He has a syndicated radio show that plays each weeknight on the Sports Fan Radio Network in 195 markets. He’s planning a national expansion of his Pete Rose Ballpark Cafe in Boca Raton, just south of West Palm Beach. And Rose still does baseball memorabilia shows when he has time.

While Rose expects baseball to snap back from its woes this year, fans need to have the security of a long-term contract.

“They don’t want the same kind of thing to blow up in their faces again,” he said.

“The playoffs will be good for baseball,” he said, noting the crowds should return in the postseason. “We need a very positive World Series and a good salesmanship job this winter.”

Few people are better at selling baseball than Pete Rose, but he doesn’t anticipate seeking his official return to baseball soon.

“I can make up my mind to apply to (interim commissioner) Bud Selig, or wait for a commissioner to be appointed, but I don’t want to waste Bud Selig’s time with a letter from me. I’m in no hurry. He has more important things to worry about right now.”