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Pat Walsh
Pat's Peeps Podcast
Ep. 261 Today's Peep My Conversation with Pete Rose "Charlie Hustle" who Candidly Discusses Everything From Being Banned from the MLB Hall of Fame, to Being Reinstated- A Baseball Legend Remembered
Baseball's all-time hits leader Pete Rose has finally been reinstated by Major League Baseball—though only after his death. In a stunning announcement that shook the baseball world, Commissioner Rob Manfred removed both Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson from the league's "permanently ineligible" list, stating that "a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game."
The timing of this decision gives new significance to my 2017 interview with Rose, which I've shared in full on this episode. During our conversation, Rose displayed remarkable candor about his gambling-related ban, refusing to make excuses or cast blame, instead acknowledging: "I'm not going to complain about not being in the baseball Hall of Fame because I made the mistakes. I'm the one that messed that up." His approach to taking responsibility offers a powerful lesson about accountability and facing the consequences of one's actions.
Beyond the controversy, Rose shares fascinating insights about his legendary career with the Cincinnati Reds' "Big Red Machine" dynasty of the 1970s. He describes the emotional nine-minute standing ovation he received after breaking Ty Cobb's all-time hits record in 1985, and how his thoughts turned to his father, coaches, and mentors who weren't alive to witness the achievement. Rose also offers thoughtful perspectives on other controversial Hall of Fame cases, including steroid-era stars like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, revealing a willingness to forgive that stands in contrast to baseball's long stance toward his own case.
As baseball grapples with its complicated relationship to its legends, Rose's reinstatement raises profound questions about forgiveness, legacy, and whether punishment should extend beyond the grave. Whether you agree with the decision or not, this conversation with the man who collected more hits than anyone in baseball history provides valuable context for understanding one of sport's most complex figures.
Welcome to the Pats Peeps podcast, number 261. 261, yeah, hey, now good morning. It's May 14th, the morning of May 14th. I'm looking out my studio windows into the beautiful foothills of Northern California. It is a pleasant spring day. Sun is back out, although it is a little cold this morning. Thank you, thank you for listening.
Speaker 1:My name is Pat Pat Walsh. I am the host of the Pat Walsh Show as heard on KFBK Radio in Sacramento, 93.1 FM, 1530 AM, and, of course, streaming on all of your streaming platforms. You know what made my night? One of the things that made my night on last night's show is when a caller called up and I apologize that I can't remember the name of the caller that called up. It was a gentleman called up, said you know, pat, and I'm getting this more and more on my radio show. He says I travel a lot and now I'm listening to your Pat's Peeps podcast. I was so excited about that. So he says I'm driving and I listened to the Pat's Peeps podcast and I really like it. And I listen to the Pat's Peeps podcast and I really like it, it's fun to listen to, and so you know what it's, thank you. So it's people like that. And then they call my radio show and say that, which really helps to grow the audience.
Speaker 1:Yesterday I had a birthday lunch. Now I could have done a podcast from there, but some friends threw a little birthday lunch for me and there was three of us celebrating a birthday this week Tony and Darcy and my friend Dan Knapp, who we're all on tomorrow. Their birthdays are tomorrow, mine is Friday, so I didn't, you know, I could have done a podcast, but I just wanted to let it be what it was and not always be on. So, with that in mind, what it was and not always be on. So with that in mind, I'm going to do my best to make that up to you today. It's a double bonus Wednesday. I want to do two of them today Now. One I will be doing because I want to pay respect to this gentleman. The other I'll do after my dreaded dental appointment today. Yes, and more dental hell, anyhow. But on Pat's Peeps 261,. You know, in case you missed the news yesterday I'm sure many of you did not, but I'm sure you heard about it I talked about this on my show last night.
Speaker 1:Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson are among the players reinstated by Major League Baseball. In an historic decision Yesterday, mlb removed Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, two of the sport's most famous players, who were previously kicked out of baseball for gambling on the game. But they have reinstated them from the league's permanently eligible list. Why? Because they're dead. Well, that's what they said. That's what Rob Manfred said in regards to Rule 21.
Speaker 1:He says in my view, once an individual has passed away, the purposes of rule 21 have been served. He went on to say obviously, a person along with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game, although I don't think that either. And if, moreover, he said it's, it's hard to conceive of a penalty that is more of a deterrent effect than the one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve. Okay, he makes a point there. But again, if that, if that's the case, when you say, well, they can't represent the threat to the integrity of the game, I don't want to go through my whole show again last night. But you know, I don't know if he knows this, but Shoeless Joe's been dead since 1951.
Speaker 1:So why lump him in and do a twofer with Pete Rose? Why attach Pete Rose to that? Or why attach Shoeless Joe to Pete Rose? I don't want to repeat my show. Like I said, I did that last night. Hopefully you had an opportunity to hear it. If not, that is on the free iHeart app and you can hear the podcast on my radio show, the Pat Wall Show. But I bring it up because in 2017, I had done an interview with Pete Rose and at the time he was going to come to Sacramento.
Speaker 1:He was going to be doing a card show. Pete always loved doing the card shows and we had an opportunity to talk to Pete and we talked about a variety of things, everything from the upcoming card show to the fact that they were going to put up a statue to him in Cincinnati, outside the ballpark to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. So, if you don't mind, without further ado, I would like to play my interview with Pete Rose. All right? Yeah, we are joined and I'm honored to be joined by Baseball's Hits King. We're talking to Pete Rose and I'm very excited, very honored, to have you with us, pete. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2:Well, it's my pleasure and I'm looking forward to Saturday, to come into your town. I've been to Sacramento a long time and hopefully we'll have a lot of people come out to the show and talk some baseball and you know, just have a good day.
Speaker 1:You know. So, pete's coming here. You're coming here for the first Sacramento Sports Collector's Show. This is going to be out at McClellan Air Force Base and it's this Saturday, and this is 10 am to 5 pm. And I tell you what, if I were a kid, I would be so excited, pete, to know if my parents said Son, you know where we're going today. Where are we going today? Pops, we're going to go meet Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader. So I can only imagine you must really get a kick out of the kids that come out there to meet you.
Speaker 2:You know, maybe kids that never saw you play the game, but they know your reputation Well to be honest with you, I sign autographs about four and a half hours a day, 20 days a month in Las Vegas and it's kind of goose-bumpy for me to actually see as many kids that come through the line as I get.
Speaker 2:And I guess that means one thing that the fathers are talking positive about me at home and I talk to kids about hitting and you know I got a good job, man, because it's like playing a doubleheader every day. I'm not making any outs, you're getting any hits Right. It's a little different where I'm going to be Saturday, because here in Vegas you know we do it for four and a half hours. So because of that you really don't have a. You're not in a hurry. In Vegas you take your time and make an experience, as opposed to up in Sacramento we'll probably have to rush the people along because we only got two and a half hours to do our thing and then we've got to go in the back room and do the stuff back there.
Speaker 2:I take time with people, I take pictures. I talk baseball, you know. I talk sports in general, you know, because I'm watching the San Antonio Spurs right now, who are down almost 30. They're down by 13 now, so they're coming back. But then I'm watching the hockey game. San Jose's up 3-0. I'm watching baseball, you know. The Mets are behind Ford and then the Dodgers and Kershaw. I'm about to see what's going on in sports, so you still love.
Speaker 1:it sounds to me, pete, like you still love sports as much, maybe more than you ever have.
Speaker 2:Well, I have to really follow baseball because I work for Fox. I'll be doing the All-Star game in San know, I'll be doing the All-Star Game in San Diego and I'll be doing the American League Championship Series and of course we at Fox have the World Series this year again and I'll probably do some whip-arounds in July and August and September before the completion of the season. But yeah, I enjoy it. I mean, what else am I going to do? You know, sports is my life. It's been my life ever since I can remember and I enjoy all sports, not just baseball. You know I'll watch a couple games of baseball today. You know the Red Sox looked good today. David Price struck out over 10, and they won 11-1, and of course, houston's in a little bit of a slump right now after coming off that great year last year that they had. So it's early yet, but a lot of strange things can happen in the world of sports.
Speaker 1:You know you were talking about Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader, which is incredible. You talk about kids and so I'm telling this kid, I say you know, he's 13 years old Pete. I say we're going to have Pete Rose on. I don't have to explain to a 13-year-old who Pete Rose is. I don't have to explain to a 13-year-old who Willie Mays is, who the greats of the games are. They know because they know their baseball and they know who played the game at the top levels. So I asked this kid, I said you know? When I tell him we're going to have Pete Rose on, he says can I ask him a question? And you know what I thought his question was brilliant, pete. Here's what he wanted to know, if I may. He wanted to know because you were such a hero to so many young guys, including myself, who are Pete Rose's heroes.
Speaker 2:You know, I had one person in my life I've idolized. You know I respected a lot of people, a lot of guys I played with and a lot of guys I played against. But, believe it or not, the only person I ever idolized was my father. And I was very lucky growing up because my father was an athlete. And you got to remember now, I grew up in the 50s and the 60s and all we had to do was to play sports unlike today. So my father was a football player, a basketball player and a baseball player and I just couldn't wait to get in the car and go watch him do his thing, and he'd take me to watch me do my thing. So you know, I met six presidents and I respected them all and I met a lot of important people.
Speaker 2:But as far as idolizing, my favorite player growing up was a guy that cut the sleeves off of the uniforms because his name was Ted Kozinski. Big Ted Kozinski had big forearms and they had to cut the sleeves off the uniform, you know, to make them fitting. So, don't forget, I grew up four miles from Crosby Field, which is Cincinnati, so I've Don't forget, I grew up four miles from Crosby Field, which is Cincinnati, so I've always been a Cincinnati Red fan, and I was actually born about three miles from Crosby Field, where I broke in in 1963.
Speaker 1:What a story. What a story. You know you're talking about your dad, pete, and my father on a much lesser, I guess, level of play. But you know my dad was a pretty doggone good ball player and in fact I just recently had the honor of inducting him into the Sacramento Baseball Hall of Fame. So he meant so much to me. I've got to tell you he meant just so much to me and really it really made me a fan of baseball.
Speaker 1:And just the other day around here we were talking, it was Willie Mays' birthday. And so someone says on the show, they says hey, you know, today is the birthday of the greatest baseball player, the greatest living baseball player of all time. And I said my comment back to them was you know what Willie Mays may be in some minds, the greatest baseball player, living baseball player, but that's arguably because, in my estimation, pete Rose is still with us. When you look at a switch hitter, all-time major league hitter in hits at bats, singles, I can go on and on three World Series rings, batting titles, mvps, gold gloves, rookies of the year, the argument for me is that you, could be argued, is the greatest living baseball player, you and maybe Willie Mays.
Speaker 2:I mean that's, I was very fortunate to be Willie's teammate on many All-Star games and I'll never forget my first one in 65, because the clubhouse guy put my locker between Willie and Henry and I'm just a kid and I'm at this All-Star game and my locker's between Willie Mays and Hank Garrett, and that's why I love those guys, because they treated me like I was one of the guys and you know I was lucky enough to play 17 All-Star games and because of Willie and because of Hank and because of Clemente and guys like that, we won 16 of them.
Speaker 2:So you know I was very fortunate to be, in a league that had such great players and Willie was always one of the greatest guys to play with in the All-Star games and to play against, because you know he was good and he was going to give you an effort.
Speaker 2:And what I like about Willie Mays is he just had fun playing the game and I used to love guys that would show emotion. And Willie showed a lot of emotion. And Willie just was out there acting like a kid playing a grown-up's game, and that's the way you're supposed to approach it. And I love Willie Mays. I didn't know it was his birthday the other day. I usually don't miss birthdays, but Willie was certainly one of the greatest baseball top five baseball players in the history of baseball. And you know I played with the greatest catcher ever, the greatest second baseman ever, joe Morgan. And I played with the greatest third baseman ever, mike Schmidt. Johnny Betts is the greatest catcher. So there's only eight positions on a field and I played with three of the greatest of their positions in the history of the game of baseball on a field and I played with three of the greatest of their positions in the history of baseball. And then you throw Mays and Aaron in there and Clemente and Musial. I played against Musial too. Those are guys that's going to make the all-century team.
Speaker 2:You know you talk about a lucky spot in the batting order. I was the luckiest guy in the world. Man. I led off with a big red machine and the next three guys that batted after me got statues at the ballpark in Cincinnati, not plaques, statues. You've got to be pretty damn good to have statues at the baseball park. You're not kidding. Bench, morgan and Perez have statues at the Cincinnati ballpark. I've been very fortunate to be around so many great players. I actually played with 11 Hall of Famers and Barry Larkin's, the first Hall of Famer that I had. That I managed and I brought up, so you know when you're around great players for a long period of time.
Speaker 2:first of all, you get stats and, secondly, you have a lot of fun because you win so many games. And of all the records I have, my biggest record is the fact that I played 1,972 winning games, and I try to tell kids this all the time. Why do you play, young man? Why play to have fun? Well, is it fun when you lose? No, then why do you play? You play to win. That's the only reason you play. The game is to win.
Speaker 1:What do you think about when you hear kids? Now Pete, we're talking to Pete Rose, you know so many times you hear, well, we're going to give out awards for participation. I think there's a lot of times. I kind of figured that. I mean, it's all about you know life's lessons that you learn from the game.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You know, you teach a kid a different. You talk about a 9, 10, or 11-year-old kid. You teach him the difference between winning and losing. When he's 18, 19, or 20 and has a decision to make in his life because of his background, he's got a good chance of making the positive decision. I really believe that and I'm not against guys who, you know, go out there and just play and participate, but I think anybody that plays any sports is obligated to the fans, obligated to your parents, obligated to your teammates, the city you play for if you're playing professionally, but your obligation is to play as hard as you possibly can and try to win the game. Oh man, that's rocket science. That's rocket science here.
Speaker 1:This is why I love you, pete. You know what it's, because of what you stand for. I saw a picture of you one time. This is perhaps the greatest sports picture, and I mean this, I'm not just kissing up to you, pete, I mean this. I'm in Ditka's place in Chicago one time and I look up on the wall and I'm sure you've seen the picture. It's this huge picture of you and I believe it's in black and white. And here you are, all out superman dive that you were known for, and the ball is in midair. And I look at that and I said, if there were ever a picture to describe a player, the way he played the game, all you have to do. This picture is worth more than a thousand words. Just look at the way Pete Rose played the game and, son, take a lesson from the way this man played.
Speaker 2:Well, we're back to that obligation you have to the fans. There's one thing you can't do in sports and I hope players understand this, not only baseball, football, basketball, hockey, any kind of sport you cannot cheat the fans, and if you don't give your all when you're out there on the field between the lines, you're cheating the fans. And you cannot do that because your obligation is to play as hard as you possibly can while you're out there on the field for two and a half three hours win, lose your draw, come back the next day and try to do the same thing over and over and over again, Because, see, you can develop a good habit or a bad habit.
Speaker 2:You can be a winner or you can be a loser. You can think positive or you can think negative. There's no in-between.
Speaker 2:You're either a winner or you're a loser. You either think positive or you think negative. And we didn't have negative people on the Big Red Machine. You know we had players that all thought we could win. We had a great leader in sparky anderson. You know he's the best manager I ever played for and I played for 12. But there again you learn a little bit of good, bad and different from every guy you play for. And when I managed the reds for five years I put everybody's uh different things in them into my program. Things that I liked I put in Bad, things I didn't like I kept out of my program. That's what it's all about learning and experiencing and writing down what you learn and just try to go from there.
Speaker 1:You know, Pete, when you talk about there's a couple of teams that come to mind. You look over the years, all the great teams that have come down that have played the game, and talk about a team. If you look at, let's say, the early 70s Oakland A's, there's so many names people can remember, from Vida Blue to Catfish, Hunter to on and on, Blue Moon, Odom, etc. Etc. The other team is the Big Red Machine. People can name Bench and Rose and Morgan and Perez and Griffey. How does it feel to be a part of one of those teams that people, without even thinking about it, boom, they can just click off that whole roster.
Speaker 2:Well, you had to bring up the damn Oakland A's and they could beat us in the A's, so we were the first victim in there, three in a row. But you know, I'm never going to get on your show or anybody else's show and say that you know, the Big Red Machine was the greatest team ever in the history of baseball. But I will say one thing that I really believe, and the Big Red Machine was the most entertaining team in the history of baseball because we're the only team to date, okay, that had a Hall of Fame manager, a White Hall of Famer, a black Hall of Famer and a Latino Hall of Famer. No other team has had that ingredient.
Speaker 1:You're listening to Pat's Peeps 261. Thank you for that. I appreciate that as I'm talking with Pete Rose, who was reinstated yesterday and is now eligible for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, and I enjoy the fact that we had an opportunity to talk about that.
Speaker 2:Someday the Yankees may, with Jeter and Clemens and Rivera and Torrey, but as of right now no one has that ingredient. And the reason we were so good, it's easy to explain. Okay, because in baseball you usually get your production from third base, first base, left field, right field. You usually get your production from third base, first base, left field, right field. But we got a lot of our production from catcher and second baseman Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench, both Hall of Famers. So when you have a Hall of Fame catcher that can put stats up and a Hall of Fame second baseman that's an MVP candidate every year, you're way ahead of the game. That's why the Reds were so good.
Speaker 1:Do you keep in touch with any of your former teammates?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I talked to Jim Morgan today, I talked to Johnny Bench yesterday, so you know we're all going to be together in June. June 24th, there's a reunion at the ballpark in Cincinnati. It's the 40th anniversary of us sweeping the Yankees in the 76th season. Then the next day, which is June 25th, I'm going into the Reds Hall of Fame on the field. Then the next day after that they're retiring my number in Cincinnati. So we have a big weekend coming up in June, and next year they tell me that they're doing my statue. So that'd be unusual because that'd mean the first four guys in our lineup have statues at the ballpark, which is pretty amazing.
Speaker 1:Wow, I can't even imagine you must be so honored to know that they're going to put that statue up.
Speaker 2:And to me. Let me explain something to you. You know, born in Cincinnati, played for my hometown, born in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame means a lot to me personally because you know I've been to all the ballparks that are around today and not all of them have Hall of Fames at the ballpark. But our Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame is the best of all the teams out there in the world of baseball and they put a lot of work into that Hall of Fame. Don't forget, baseball started in Cincinnati in 1869, and the first night game was played in 1935. So we have a lot of tradition in Cincinnati and to make their Hall of Fame was really icing on the cake for me.
Speaker 1:What was it like? Pete Hit number 4,256. What went through your mind? 4,256.
Speaker 2:What went through your mind? Nothing on that one, because that was the last hit I got. You know the hits that got? Goosebumpy was 4,192. Now you know for your listeners out there just put yourself in this position. You're playing at home, you're playing in front of 52,000 people, you get a hit the first time, up to surpass Ty Cobb and become the number one hitter in the history of baseball as far as base hits. Now, listen, I get a nine-minute standing ovation Now for you dads out there listening to our show right now.
Speaker 2:Okay, tomorrow night, when you come home from work and the wife's in their kitchen getting ready to prepare dinner, just stay in there for nine minutes and clap.
Speaker 1:I get goosebumps. Just thinking about that, pete, I tell you.
Speaker 2:And you'll know how hard it is for me to be out there because, to be honest with you, that was the only time in my life that I was ever between the lines on a baseball field and didn't know what the hell to do.
Speaker 1:They come out and they took the base.
Speaker 2:I mean all the players came out, my son came out. I mean it was see, here's what happens in that period of time. I think you'll understand this. Okay, the first five or six minutes it's fun. The players are coming out, my son's coming out, and the fans are going crazy, and they keep going crazy. Now seven, seven and a half minutes. Now what happens? I'll tell you what happens. You start thinking about everybody responsible for you being there that are gone, and in my case, it was my dad, it was my uncle who signed me to a contract, it was my little league coaches, it was my high school coaches, it was a couple of my minor league coaches, my first major league manager. They all left us and those are the people that are the reason I'm out there in front of these 52,000 people, and that's what brings tears to your eyes.
Speaker 1:Wow, we're talking with Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader, and just honored to be talking to him. You voted to the Major League Baseball All-Century team. Everyone is so excited yours truly included because absolutely without a doubt, you needed to be there. I'm going to tell you, pete again I'm a big baseball guy. A ton of my friends are baseball guys. When we talk baseball and I know you're probably so tired of hearing about it we all, without a doubt, no hesitation whatsoever. Pete Rose is not only one of the greatest ballplayers of all time, but this man should be in the Hall of Fame Now. We all agree on that. Many of us agree on that, and there would be people that would say, listen, sometimes a punishment doesn't necessarily fit the sin. Okay, look what the man did on the field.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I appreciate those good words, but let me tell you something about that. Okay, I'm not going to get on your show or anybody else's show and complain about not being in the baseball hall of fame Because I made the mistakes. I'm the one that messed that up. I'm the one that's living the consequences. It's fine with me. You know, if I'm ever given a second chance, I'll be the happiest guy in the world, but I'm not going to use your show or anybody else's show to badmouth this guy or that guy or this commissioner or that commissioner, because I screwed up.
Speaker 2:You know I should be a lesson for a lot of kids that are listening to our show right now. Don't mess up. And if you do mess up, come forward as quickly as you possibly can, because they're going to find out about it. People are going to find out about something that you did wasn't right and it happened to me and it happens to a lot of guys. But all you can do is just take responsibility for it and try to go on with your life, and that's what I try to do.
Speaker 2:I'm a good citizen. I work hard and try to go on with your life. That's what I try to do. I'm a good citizen, I work hard. You may think I'm crazy, but I'm the best ambassador baseball has. And I'm not even in the sport Because all I do on a daily basis. I don't badmouth baseball and you know the last five, six, seven, eight years baseball has been easy to badmouth with the PEDs and all the drug suspensions and things like that. But I continuously talk positive about the game of baseball because, as Tony Perez would say, baseball has been very, very good to me.
Speaker 1:I'm going to ask a couple more questions. One is people have asked me okay, let's look at the era of Clemens and Bonds and McGuire, etc. Oh, you know, there was always the controversy should these guys be in the Hall of Fame? The steroid era, etc. And here for the longest time, pete, my answer was you know what these other guys? They did it right, they did it clean. And I want to know what you think about this. They did it clean and I want to know what you think about this. They did it right, they did it clean.
Speaker 1:And yet, the more I got to thinking about it, you know, when baseball went on strike several times all you and you know this as well as I do, pete that people say oh, everyone is the so-called experts. Listen, fans aren't going to go back to the game, oh, they're sick and tired of this. But then the 1998 season comes around. Now everyone wants to know on a daily basis what did Sammy Sosa, what did Mark McGuire do? People that aren't even into baseball, they would ask me hey, did one of these guys hit a home run?
Speaker 1:So now, at the time, baseball at least in my estimation sort of turned a blind eye here to the fact that they're putting butts in the seats because these guys are hitting home runs. Oh I'm sorry, what's going on, we don't know anything. Butts in the seats because these guys are hitting home runs oh I'm sorry, what's going on, we don't know anything. So, in my estimation, after all this time shouldn't they take responsibility and say listen, we allowed it. They put the butts in the seats. Listen, they need to go in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2:Well, first of all, you know, if you ask me about Bonds and Clemens and Palmaro and Sosa, yes, I'm going to vote for them for the Hall of Fame. I'm going to tell you not that I disagree or agree with what they did, because I don't know what they did, okay, but I'm willing to give anybody a second chance. And here's exactly what you're talking about In 1977, george Foster played for the Big Red Machine and he had 52 home runs. Okay, no National League player hit 50 home runs until that year. That you're talking about with McGuire and Sosa, and they both hit more than Roger Maris. Sammy Sosa hit over 60 home runs three times and never allegedly get home runs Right, amazing. And Babe Ruth hit 60 for the most and Roger Maris hit 61. Okay, so there's that light that should have went off in the people who run the game of baseball. But, like you said, they were trying to get people to come back to the ballpark and the home run was a way to get them back. And that Sosa-McGuire thing really, really helped the game of baseball as far as getting the people back. Okay, now, and I could be wrong about this, I don't know, but I think that winner after that home run derby that year with those two guys I think.
Speaker 2:Bond said well, I'll show you guys. And I think if he took steroids, that's when he took his steroids and that's when he started producing at the age of 40. And he hit 73 home runs. Mcguire hit 70 home runs.
Speaker 2:See, I'm not going to vote for McGuire. I'll tell you why. Because Mark McGuire was a Hall of Fame home run hitter. So was Dave Kingman, true, but Mark McGuire couldn't field, he didn't run, he didn't throw, he didn't run the bases, he just was a great home run hitter. You know there's more to scoring in the Hall of Fame than just being a home run hitter. But the other guys I mentioned Bonds, he's a great player.
Speaker 2:Clemens seven Cy Youngs. Sammy Sosa over five earned home runs. And a great right fielder. Palmaro over five earned home runs, 3,000 hits. Not too many people have done that. Those are the guys that are going to get my vote. It's just like a guy that's going to retire this year, big Poppy from Boston. His name was on that list to come out with 103 names on it. Let's see, if he's eligible, what the press feels about him, because someday I think you'll agree with this, someday the press is going to change and they're going to start voting for these guys to get in the Hall of Fame that were linked to these drugs.
Speaker 1:Does that make any sense? Absolutely, it makes sense. Yes, and you know, when I listen to you, pete, you've given me yet another reason to admire you. And the fact is and I use this philosophy in my own life, pete, as I listen to you, you do the same thing. You take the high road. You take any situation. You've said a couple of times I'm not going to use your show to do this, I'm not going to use your show to do this. I'm not going to use it to do this. Get on the bandwagon. You take the higher road Going back to the All-Century team. You're probably sick of hearing about this. I was ashamed and astonished when and let me just ask you this because you've had time to think about this when I say the name Jim Gray your thoughts.
Speaker 2:Well, I get along with Jim now because you know I go to a lot of the fights here in Vegas and he's always working the fights. He was just a young kid, you know timing's everything in sports and you know, when they came to my people and said Jim Gray wants to interview you after the induction on the field, I'm saying to myself man, you got Willie Mays there, you got Hank Aaron, you got Ted Aaron, you got Ted Williams, you got Stan Musial. Why does he want me? Why does he want me? And well, he's not going to talk about Gatlin. Well, the first thing he did was he started talking about Gatlin and I'll never forget something that happened to me that night. Okay, I went down underneath the ballpark and Craig Sagers was there. You know, craig, right.
Speaker 1:Yep and Craig Sagers was there.
Speaker 2:You know Craig, right? Yep, yeah, a great guy. He lives in Atlanta and he works for TNT Sure and he was waiting down there and he came up to me and said Pete, he said the same thing you just said. He said I want to apologize for my profession based on what that guy just did to you. And I said don't worry about it.
Speaker 2:And the only thing that pissed me off about that interview is I walked by the Yankee dugout and two of my good friends, joe Torre and Don Zimmer, who went to my high school, grew up in my neighborhood and I was so mad I didn't get to acknowledge either one of those guys in the World Series that night. You know, I was red hot. I didn't know, it was such a big deal until I got to the airport and they said that the TV went out because of all the phone calls. So you know. But I think Jim Gray, you know he's like that as far as being an interviewer. You know, I remember one time when Florida Marlins won the World Series. In 10 minutes after they won it he's asking Wayne Heising, are you going to break up the team now? So you know, you know guys like that. I mean. You know, they don't mean bad, but they just try to. You remember when Jim Rome said something about Everett?
Speaker 1:Jim Everett. I'm a Rams fan. Do I ever remember it? Yeah, I wanted to come to the television, pete.
Speaker 2:Yeah, some guys do things that everything in sports, reporting sports and I'm a reporter now working for Fox it's all about timing and there's a time and place for every question and you know you've got to ask tough questions sometimes. But don't attack. Don't attack people because we athletes and you interview athletes all the time. They don't want to be attacked. They don't mind answering the tough questions. I don't think they do. They shouldn't, because there's some guys that they don't want to get booed if they strike out four times, but they want you to stand up and clap if they hit two home runs. You've got to take the bad with the good and the good with the bad.
Speaker 1:The sun's going to shine tomorrow, don't worry about it pete rose, I admire you and I want to say thanks for taking your time and joining me tonight. Uh, just a reminder, okay. So pete's gonna be take your kids to see this baseball hero, the great pete rose. Uh, sacramento sports collector show yep, and he showed up in sacramento and he did his thing and he interacted with fans. My exclusive interview with pete rose talking about the hall of Fame and such More to come today, but thank you for listening to Pat's Peeps 261. We'll see you on the radio.
