Monday, September 18, 2006

A Rose By Any Other Name...

As you might have noticed, or as is obvious to those who know me, I really like sports. So you might think when I had the opportunity to meet the holder of one of the biggest all-time records in the world of sports, I would jump at the chance. Well, last winter I had just that opportunity. My reaction? No thanks. I was in Las Vegas with some of my family, and a baseball legend was there, signing autographs. The man's name - Pete Rose, Major League Baseball's all-time hits king.

You may know the story of Rose. "Charlie Hustle" was a hard worker, a fierce competitor, and a terrific hitter. Unfortunately, that competitiveness carried him to break the biggest no-no in baseball. In 1989 Rose was banned from baseball for life for betting on games. Even though, as part of his deal, Rose signed a confession, ever since then he's maintained his innocence, despite the mountains of evidence against him. At least until 2004. That's when Pete realized he may be able to cash in on his story. So out he came with a book, in which he admitted publicly for the first time that he did indeed bet on baseball. Now, he's at it again. This story tells about Rose autographing baseballs, and 30 of them are available via auction through a New Jersey auction house. But these are no ordinary autographed baseballs. They feature a heartfelt message from Rose: "I'm sorry I bet on baseball -- Pete Rose".

Supposedly the president of the auction house thinks the balls will fetch upwards of $1000 each. I hope they don't sell.

I only have two words for Pete: go away. We know you are baseball's all-time hits leader. We also know that you bet on baseball and were banned for life, according to a rule posted in each & every MLB clubhouse. So just go away. Please.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oh, come on, Josh! I KNOW you have bid on one of those balls already. Who are you kidding? I had to take you down last winter in Vegas to keep you away from Pete, your hero. What gives? Yeah, it's me - J in the UK ;-)