I grew up thinking Pete Rose was a wonderful player.
From the time I was 13 or 14 and for the next 20 years or so, he was my favorite athlete. When I became a professional sportswriter, I interviewed him four times — in 1982, ’84, ’85 and then in the early ’90s after he had been banned from the game.
I admired the determination in the way he played the game, his refusal to give any less than his best effort.
In one respect, he was the hitting equivalent of Nolan Ryan, a man who had great moments but mostly amassed great numbers by playing for a very long time.
That’s why it amuses me to hear people say Ryan’s seven no-hitters and amazing number of strikeouts put him in the conversation for the greatest pitcher ever and that Rose’s 4,256 hits mean he was the greatest hitter ever.
Not even close. Just as I could name 25 pitchers who would rank as greater than Ryan, just as there was never one year in his long career in which he would be called the greatest, the same is true for Rose.
In fact, during the peak years of the Big Red Machine, Rose was probably no better than third best on his own team behind catcher Johnny Bench and second baseman Joe Morgan. Both are in the Hall of Fame, as is corner infielder Tony Perez.
In an article about the 100 Greatest Hitters, Bleacher Report ranks Rose 15th. I think that is overly generous, and I’ll give you 25 off that list that I would definitely rank ahead of Rose. Not that there wouldn’t be others.
Let’s start with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Ted Williams and Barry Bonds.
Then there’s Hank Aaron, Rogers Hornsby, Honus Wagner, Mickey Mantle and Lou Gehrig.
Ten pretty great hitters.
Stan Musial, Tris Speaker, Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx and Frank Robinson.
Nap Lajoie, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Rod Carew, Shoeless Joe Jackson.
Ten more who on way or another surpass Rose.
George Brett, Carl Yastrzemski, Tony Gwynn, Roberto Clemente, Ichiro Suzuki.
Read the entire list. I could name at least 25 more who were arguably as good as or better than the Hit King, but that really isn’t the point. Hall of Famer George Sisler hit over .400 twice, and Harry Heilmann had a .342 career average. Don’t forget Eddie Murray, one of seven players with topped 500 home runs and 3,000 hits.
Of course, Miguel Cabrera did that and won a Triple Crown.
All better than Rose, although if he were half as good a human being as he was a player, he would be in the Hall of Fame without having to buy a ticket.