Rose in 2015.
A few of the outtakes from the Enquirer’s exclusive two-hour interview with Pete Rose at his Las Vegas condo building this season, his last sit-down interview.
Pete Rose on Elly De La Cruz
“He has as much ability as anyone in the association. Be that as it may, why’s he hitting .260-something? You couldn’t figure a person who could run like that could hit .260, OK? He experiences difficulty with a curve. However, he’s a decent player, there’s no doubt. However, on the off chance that you got a person who can run like him, he must hit better than .260. Must hit better than .260. I’ve never envisioned or even contemplated .260 when I played.”
Pete Rose on managing Cincinnati Reds
“At the point when I dealt with the Reds I never disliked a person hustling, a person being on time, a person missing the plane, missing the transport. Didn’t have that sh — . That all comes from your regard for the administrator. You advise a person to be dressed at five, and he begins coming in at 10 after 5, that is a malignant growth. That is a disease in the works. For hell’s sake, when I played, assuming they’d have let me, I’d have dozed in the (damn) clubhouse.”
Would Reds Have Won 1990 World Series If Pete Rose was Manager?
“I’ll tell you precisely. I completed second four or long term sin a column, and I got suspended in ’89. At the point when Lou (Piniella) dominated (in 1990) he had Billy Hatcher, Hal Morris, Glenn Braggs and Randy Myers that I didn’t have. Furthermore, in the event that I’d have had those four people the year I completed second, indeed, I’d have had a decent opportunity. Those are four very great increments. That’s what lou Piniella exploited. God favor him. For hell’s sake, I assumed control over a last-place group and completed second four straight years.”
Pete Rose on hustling
“That is the manner in which I played. You understand everything that I like to say to individuals when they ask ‘how you played’? I like to look at them without flinching and say, “I played the correct way. I played how you should play.’ Each player ought to play the manner in which I played. Consistently. Not five days per week, not six days per week. Seven days per week. That is the very thing you owe to individuals that compensation to get into the games. Put it all out there for nine innings. In the event that it’s a 11-inning game, work exceptionally hard for 11 innings.”
Pete Rose on collision with Ray Fosse in 1970 All-Star Game at Riverfront
“I was pretty lucky in that situation. The ball was about this far from Fosse. He’s reaching for it. If he’d had the ball, he’d have planted me into next week. But he didn’t have the ball. You can’t concentrate on two things, the runner and the ball. The same thing happened (in 1972) on Opening Day against Duke Sims and the Dodgers, and I’m going on contact. He caught it, threw it to the catcher, Duke Sims, and that guy knocked me into the middle of next week. Those are the little things that happen in the game of baseball, in sports. Who says who’s right and who’s wrong? I guess I was right because I won the (All-Star) game. But no one bitched about that, it seems like. I wasn’t trying to hurt Ray Fosse. I took him out to eat the night before.”
Pete Rose on collisions at plate and takeout slides
“I don’t understand this. As long as you play within the rules of the game, who gives a sh— if you knock the shortstop or the second baseman on his ass? Or who gives a sh— if the shortstop or second baseman throws underneath and hits you sliding. It’s part of the game. You can’t be pitty-patty about everything. You don’t want to get anybody hurt. But I only knew one way to play, and that was play to win. That’s why I got more wins than anybody else.”
On Ichiro Suzuki’s 4,367 hit exceeding Rose’s 4,256 if NBP hits counted
“Well, that’s bulls—. If you’re going to combine Ichiro’s Japanese hits, then combine my minor league hits. There’s another (427). I played in Japan a couple times. It’s not the same. I admire them. They play hard. They bust their ass. But I went over there one time for a 15-day tour, after the ’78 season. I hit in 14 straight. I never knew any of those pitchers, and I still got 14 games in a row. And Ichiro’s a good ballplayer, don’t get me wrong. But you don’t know if he’d have got 4,000 hits. It’s not my fault he played in Japan.”
Pete Rose 2 Gold Glove awards in left field
“The best position I ever played was first base. The easiest position was left field. …I would think of all the awards you can have in baseball, winning a Gold Glove is probably the most insignificant. Most guys can catch the ball. If you can’t, you don’t belong in a baseball uniform.”
Pete Rose on social media, how he’d handle it
“Probably rough.”
Would Pete Rose have X?
“Nah, I’m not a big twitter guy.”
Would Pete Rose be on Tik-Tok?
“I don’t do that stuff. I’m a text guy. But that might change if it’s today and I’m doing something to create money.”
Pete Rose on hitting
“It’s all about adjusting. You’ve got to adjust almost every at-bat. He’ll give you a pitch to hit. Every good pitcher – (Sandy) Koufax, (Juan) Marichal, (Bob) Gibson — they were all great pitchers. But they always give you a pitch to hit. And if you foul it back, you’re (screwed). You better hit the pitch they give you.”
Pete Rose on hitting in modern MLB era with more velocity
“Everybody throws hard now. I mean, this guy might throw 97 (mph), this guy might throw 98, and this guy might have an off night and throw 93. But then again when I played you had guys that threw 98. J.R. Richard, Nolan Ryan, guys like that, they threw close to 100. See, Abner Doubleday, who invented baseball, (*smirks*) “he made sure that you will never have a pitcher throw so hard you can’t hit it. You understand what I’m saying? … And there aren’t too many pitchers pitching today that have more than one really good pitch.”
What would Pete Rose have hit in 2024 MLB season?
“I don’t know, .190, .195? … But I’m 83 years old.”