Rose laid a legal hit on Ray - its baseball, but poor old Ray was never the same after that ...
He was a classic flash in the pan. If you want to blame his short career on any injury, blame it on the broken neck he received in 1974 while breaking up a clubhouse fight between Reggie Jackson and Billy North.......
The year his shoulder was dislocated in the collision (1970), he never went on the DL and played 42 games in the second half. The year following he went to the All Star game again and won his second Gold Glove.
His average didn't begin to taper off until 72-73......
True, but it was the freaking All Star game and totally meaningless which only goes to prove that Pete Rose belongs in the Total Jerk Hall of Fame.
The problem with the Pete Rose play and part of the reason he was labeled a jerk was that it happened in the All Star game. Its basically an exhibition game that doesn’t count. The Posey play doesn’t even look that bad. His leg sort of bends back beneath him on conact. But here’s Pete’s take on it. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2011/02/pete-rose-ray-fosse-all-star-collision/1
It’s the runner’s job to get home and it’s the catcher’s job to block the plate. It’s just that simple.
Rose laid a legal hit on Ray - its baseball
Live and in color; http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=5766041