Pete Rose Awaits His Return, 25 Years Into Exile

New York Times ^ | JULY 6, 2014 | TYLER KEPNER

[nickcarraway]

Pete Rose has a vision. Someday his career hits record will be tied, and he will respond with one final turn at bat. He will roll a single up the middle and crawl to first base for No. 4,257, reclaiming his title as Hit King.

Rose related this fanciful dream on the phone the other day, at the end of a lively conversation. The problem with the story, obviously, is that he is 73 years old and has been barred from baseball since 1989. But there has to be a better ending out there, somehow.

Life is good for Rose. He has been in the news lately, managing the independent Bridgeport Bluefish, in Connecticut, for a game last month — “They took some extra bases, made some headfirst slides, and we won, 2-0,” he said — and announcing his role as a spokesman for SportsBeep, a fantasy sports app. It is legal, he pointed out.

“Which is important to me — I will no longer do anything illegal in my life,” Rose said. “It’s a great way for fans to be attracted. If they’re attracted to sports through this app, they’re going to watch more sports and maybe go to more games. It creates fun for sports fans.”

If this new association bothers anybody or hinders his chances of being reinstated, Rose said, he cannot worry about it.

[shove_it]

Thanks for the great story.

Pete Rose’s Records (Wikipedia)

Major League records:
Most career hits – 4,256
Most career outs – 10,328
Most career games played – 3,562
Most career at bats – 14,053
Most career singles – 3,215
Most career runs by a switch hitter – 2,165
Most career doubles by a switch hitter – 746
Most career walks by a switch hitter – 1,566
Most career total bases by a switch hitter – 5,752
Most seasons of 200 or more hits – 10 (shared)
Most consecutive seasons of 100 or more hits – 23
Most consecutive seasons with 600 or more at bats – 13 (1968–1980)
Most seasons with 600 at bats – 17
Most seasons with 150 or more games played – 17
Most seasons with 100 or more games played – 23
Record for playing in the most winning games – 1,972
Only player in major league history to play more than 500 games at five different positions – 1B (939), LF (671), 3B (634), 2B (628), RF (595)

National League records:
Most years played – 23
Most consecutive years played – 24
Most career runs – 2,165
Most career doubles – 746
Most career games with 5 or more hits – 10
Modern (post-1900) NL record for longest consecutive-game hitting streak NL – 44
Modern record for most consecutive hitting streaks of 20 or more games – 7