Posted on 06/06/2019 11:38:11 AM PDT by jazusamo
Baseball legend Pete Rose took a shot at his former teammate and Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench on Thursday during an appearance on “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”
Rose fired back after Bench refused to budge from his view that the former Cincinnati Reds star should be excluded from the Baseball Hall of Fame for gambling on the sport in 1989.
“It don't bother me but you know Johnny Bench is one guy who should thank God I was born,” Rose told host Brian Kilmeade. “Because he never would have made the Hall of Fame if I wasn't born.”
Kilmeade asked Rose to elaborate.
“Because I'm the guy he knocked in a thousand times. You got you've got guys in front of you guys right behind you and you got to be responsible for everybody else involved,” Rose said, adding that Bench couldn’t understand why he wasn’t as loved as Rose was in Cincinnati.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I was 10 years old when Pete Rose had his 44 game hitting streak. I watched on tv when the Reds visited Shea Stadium. There were tons of Pro-Pete banners at the game. Now I think of him as an arrogant a hole who broke baseball’s cardinal rule, heed and hawed for years after being caught, and ended the career of an All-Star catcher in an exhibition game.
Love the guy, and if drug addicts are admitted to the HoF, so should gamblers, especially Trump-supporting, Charlie Hustle!
Third base coach Leo Durocher
Whatever Pete. Both of you were great players. And I think Commissioner Giamatti made the right call.
Pro sports players—even big stars—should have to play by the rules.
I've actually been sympathetic to Rose, and understood his bitterness, which he has not handled well. Every now and then, he pops up and says or does something stupid, and my sympathy for him is wearing thin.
I see what you did there.
Who was knockin ‘em Pete? JOHNNY.
What’s more, Johnny Bench could have knocked anybody in.
Bench probably could have knocked me in and I was never a fast runner ever.
When the coach said “lineman take a lap!” I was dead last every time. I ran a 5k once and I came in second to last, the guy I beat was like 80 years old.
Pete come down off of your cloud and back on to terra firma for the oxygen levels are more suited to you. In fact, the closer you are to sea level is probably better yet.
“Bench was pretty darned good. I bet he would have made the HOF had he been on almost any team.”
Johnny Bench is one of the greatest catchers of all time. Rose’s bitterness doesn’t reflect on Bench whatsoever.
YOU'D BE IN THE HOF, TOO.
But you didn't.
And you aren't.
And you never will be.
STFU.
I see what you did there.
I always hated Rose. He exuded jerk-ness. He’s the only player I would boo when he came up to bat in the Astrodome.
In that era, a lot of catchers had to stand their ground when a runner came home. The best of catchers, like Johnny Bench, held onto the baseball no matter what. That’s when men were men and girls were girls. You get ejected for doing this now.
Some rules can’t be broken...and with good reason. Someone posted a clip of Rose ruining Fosse’s career with the All Star collision. Rose being Rose was the proper caption. Still...I would like to see Rose in the HOF...the first year after he passes away.
Pete's transgression didn't enhance his own stats or wins.
And EVERY other rule-breaker has been given chances, and is not banned from the sport entirely.
I'm done with baseball until Pete Rose is in the Hall of Fame... and if they wait until he is dead, then MLB is dead to me forever. Period.
All I’m reading is about the personality. Take that and his ego and even his scandal out of it. Would he be a Hall of Famer? If not, why?
Rose reminds me so much of Ryan O’Neal.
Both will be pathetic @sshats until the day they die.
At least Johnny Bench never got the "Ray Fosse Treatment" courtesy of Rose.
I grew up in Ohio during the Big Red Machine years. I loved both Pete and Johnny. One of my best memories from childhood was driving with my family to Cincinnati to see the Reds. Had outfield seats and Pete was playing in the outfield that day. After the game we went to Johnny Bench’s Home Plate restaurant for dinner. Awesome.
I think Pete should be in the HOF. One of the greatest player ever. Yes, he has warts. He bet on baseball, but he ALWAYS bet on the Reds to win. So he was not throwing games. Hell, I wish all players had their financial success tied to their actual performance.
Can’t it be argued that a player doesn’t get into the Hall of fame for not gambling but for an excellent level of play? Other “flawed” players are there.
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