The Pete Rose Column

Baseball legend Pete Rose passed away earlier this week, and Shank has a ton of small stories to tell about him:

Pete Rose was crude and rough around the edges, but his love for baseball was evident every game

Pete Rose, who died Monday in Nevada at the age of 83, loved baseball and compiled more major league hits (4,256) than anyone else who ever played. Unfortunately, his apparent addiction to gambling blew up his career and kept him out of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Rose was crude. Rough around the edges. And he noticed everything.

“I remember in 1982 when I first did the ‘Game of the Week,’ ” Bob Costas said Monday night. “I was set up on the field before the game and Pete was playing catch down the third base line and he looked at me and said, ‘I’ve seen you. You do those Big Ten football games.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Why would Pete Rose know me?’

“Years later, I figured it out. It wasn’t like he was following my career. It was the betting. He bet on everything.”

Definitely worth a read.