I dispute your fact. Rose played for I think 48 seasons, more or less. I may be off but it was lots and lots anyway. His numbers in his first few years weren't stellar and not in the last several seasons either. That waters down his career numbers for sure. But in his peak years, mostly with the Reds, Rose won three batting titles, came in second twice, and finished in the top ten a total of 13 times. Rose led the league in on-base percentage twice, and finished in the top-five eight times. He led the NL in hits seven times, and finished in the top five an 15, yes 15 seasons. Plus he led the league in doubles and finished in the top 5 14 times. He was on base and in scoring position a lot.
It is a fact that Rose was not a thoroughly mediocre hitter.
48 seasons!? Good one!
>> Rose played for I think 48 seasons, more or less. <<
I’m not sure what you meant to write, but given my ranting that Rose broke the hits record simply because he played so long, that’s kinda funny.
>> It is a fact that Rose was not a thoroughly mediocre hitter. <<
For a starting first baseman, yes he was. He had a ton of singles. It takes three singles to score a run. (I find that kind of baseball much more exciting than today’s home-run contests, even as a Yankees fan!) The ONLY thing he excelled at was hitting singles, and even so, he had a career on-base pct of .373. For comparison, Joey Votto’s is .424. Fifty one points higher! Pete Rose’s OBP is closer to that of a second-string shortstop than to Joey Votto!
And Joey Votto will probably end up with about three times as many home runs.
(Actually, the more I look at this, the more I’m ready to see Joey Votto as a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer.)
First basemen who played in 1985 with better careers than Pete Rose:
Don Mattingly
Cecil Fielder
Tony Perez
Eddie Murray
Cecil Cooper
Rod Carew
Kent Hrbek
Hal McRae
and Dave “Screw the 400 HR rule, he’s not a Hall of Famer” Kingman
Not even in the top 9. That’s mediocre.