Look, Dad! I’M Up! Petey Rose Makes Debut In Cincinnati’s Lineup
The public address announcer will call his name for the first time, and Pete Rose Jr. will literally follow in his father’s footsteps as he jogs to third base.
Once there, Rose will stoop and scribble “4,192” in the dirt with his right index finger, then circle it - a tribute to his father’s most famous hit. The stadium will swell with the throaty chant that was the background score for his father’s greatest moments: “PETE! PETE! PETE!”
Finally, when he comes to bat in the bottom of the first inning for his father’s team wearing his father’s number, he will dig his cleats into the very spot where 12 years ago his father dug in and lined an opposite-field single for baseball’s hit record.
In the stands, mother Karolyn Rose will stand, clap and wipe away tears, exactly the way she did at some of her former husband’s greatest moments. And there in the front row will be the Hit King, the man who made all of this entirely possible and absolutely necessary.
Will he smile like a proud father? Will he be the stoic Hit King?
As Petey - yes, that’s what he’s still called - levels the bat toward the mound, everyone in the stadium will hope he comes through just like dad would: a little hit, a little daring, a little dirt flying from a headfirst slide.
“In his first at-bat, I want to see him get a hit and stretch it for a double,” said his older sister, Fawn.
Petey’s major-league debut today with the Cincinnati Reds won’t really be about baseball. It’ll be about something more elementary: a son’s lifetime of trying to win his father’s affection.
From his earliest years, Petey has lived in his father’s shadow - sometimes happily, other times not. As a 1-year-old, he was featured on the cover of the Reds’ 1971 media guide - wearing No. 14, of course.
When Pete was leading the Reds to World Series titles in 1975 and 1976, Petey was hanging around the clubhouse, playing catch with the other players’ sons.
When Pete stroked hit No. 4,192 on Sept. 11, 1985, to pass Ty Cobb on the career hit list, Petey went on the field - wearing No. 14, of course - to hug his dad.
And when Pete went off to prison for tax evasion, Petey went there to visit. While Pete settled into his banishment from baseball for gambling, Petey settled into an unremarkable and, until now, unsatisfying minor-league career.
Their baseball lives have been like father, like son. Petey finally got his major-league callup at age 27; by that age, Pete had won N.L. rookie of the year honors (at age 22) and the first of his three batting titles.
Pete was obsessed by baseball; Petey is dedicated to it.
Pete wanted to be the first million-dollar singles hitter; Petey wanted the chance to get a single in the major leagues. Pete wanted to be the greatest hitter of all time; Petey just wanted his time.
On the eve of his debut, Petey wasn’t doing interviews. In an interview earlier this year with Sports Illustrated, he explained why he has kept at it through nine unremarkable minor-league seasons, when he hit .254.
“If you want to know the truth,” he said, “that’s what this baseball dream is all about - what I keep working so hard for, and why I want it so bad. When you get down to it, I’m like any other son. I just want to make my dad proud of me.”
The Reds initially were not going to call Petey up for September. At age 27, he’s no longer a prospect. When Rose fans objected, the team realized it could satisfy the public, sell a few tickets and fulfill a son’s dream.
After Monday, there are no guarantees. The Reds will go back to playing the young guys who figure in their future.
This might be Petey’s one and only chance. If he gets a hit and a hug, it might be enough.