My last trip to the library was right around the start of baseball season, so when I saw a new Pete Rose book I figured, why not? While I was a bit too young to know all the details of Pete Rose’s baseball scandals growing up, I was aware that they were going on. So I figured I could learn more about him and recall what all the fuss was about.
I did learn much about his early years and didn’t realize that he grew up right where he would end up playing the majority of his career. Besides his constant hustle which I knew all about, it must’ve been pretty exciting to have a local guy do so well for your team.
What did get a bit interesting was reading about the more modern Mr. Rose. I had no idea of his shady friends and even of his fairly recent reality TV show (didn’t sound too good). I’ve heard some negative stories from those who met him at card shows,etc. and a lot of it was matching up with what the author shared on him.
While I understand how wrong it is to bet on a sport that you are playing and playing/managing in, I can’t say I’m that surprised by his behavior. Not to justify it one bit, but athletes are extremely competitive individuals and for them to find themselves gambling a great deal doesn’t seem very unrealistic to me.
We treat them like their super beings and then eventually they begin to think that the rules of a typical person no longer apply to them. I’m surprised it doesn’t happy more often actually.
While the subject matter wasn’t incredibly interesting to me, the author did do and excellent job telling the story of Pete Rose’s rise and eventual fall from baseball.