BLASTING PETE ROSE IN A BOOK REVIEW DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT HE'S THE HIT KING!

I have to say I was looking forward to Keith O'Brien's book about Pete Rose.  Titled "Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball", it is said to be one of the best reads on Pete Rose, the good and the bad.  

I have been a longtime fan of Pete Rose. He was the guy who helped get me obsessed with baseball as a kid. Growing up in Kentucky I would often venture with my family to King's Island in Ohio, and it was the height of the Big Red Machine.  Reds' shirts were everywhere in the theme park because it was Reds country.  You couldn't escape it and I remember when I saw Rose play and hit and as a little boy there was nothing more incredible. A dude playing the game harder than anyone I'd ever seen.  It was quite a thing.

And so fast forward to one of the most ridiculous book reviews I have ever seen from Patrick Sauer of the Washington Post who found it fitting to insert his own personal view of Pete Rose into his review like he actually has the clout to bring his tainted opinions of Rose to the table.  In essence, I do not care.  

You see, when you talk about Pete Rose, you talk about hitting. That's when it comes to the discussion of baseball ability. Sure, he gambled and he's admitted it and womanized and hung out with odd folks at times, but it's the hitting that will always stick with me.  In 1985 he broke Ty Cobb's hit record and he'd go on to have 4,256.  An incredible feat.  And for me, that's what stands out most.  For some odd reason, or maybe he's just a foolish ego-maniac, Sauer thought it fitting to demolish Pete Rose as "as colossal jerk" and "I was 9, and I was right." Like... who cares.

Here's the thing; Pete Rose had many flaws, but who doesn't.  Ty Cobb was a racist son of a bitch, but he's in the hall of fame.  And I think about this ridiculous review and think to myself, if Rose didn't bet on baseball is Sauer still talking about how Pete was a Son of Bitch and adding his own personal opinions of the guy or is he passing on writing the review.  My point is saying every negative thing you want to say about Pete Rose, but in the end, he still is the all-time hit leader.  Meanwhile Rose must have kicked Sauer's dog or something because he's angry and almost obsessed with trying to publicly dismantle Rose. 

"Outside of a true devotion to the craft of hitting, there is arguably nothing admirable about the adult Pete Rose, and I barely knew the half of it before reading “Charlie Hustle.” (Even Rose’s nickname was derisive. New York Yankees legends Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle tagged him with it for trying so hard during a meaningless spring training game.)"

Sauer literally dresses down Pete for playing ball too hard and tags a few baseball heroes in there to make it seem more legit. By the way, Mickey Mantle was an incredible player, he was also a drunk and womanizer, but I guess Sauer can let that pass.  Again, this might be the worst book reviews I've ever read.  Sauer's personal antidotes offer nothing but an ego trip for the length of the article.

"One moment late in Rose’s career suggests that even his fiery love of the game had some fraudulence in it. O’Brien cites multiple people who say that Rose, while playing with the Montreal Expos, used corked bats. One of the people is a clubhouse manager (and carpenter by trade) who did the illicit woodworking on Rose’s lumber. It calls into question the legitimacy of the end-stage hits that Rose needed to surpass Cobb. I would now wholeheartedly argue that Ichiro Suzuki’s hits as a professional in Japan should count and that his combined total of 4,367 makes him the true Hit King, the one to uncomplicatedly celebrate when he’s elected into Cooperstown next year."

And the worst part of this article/review, whatever it is, is the constant pounding and this quest for influence like his opinions matter.  No Patrick, Ichiro, while incredible, is not the true Hit King, but there needs to be some kind of accolade for him. Pete is the all-time hits leader and its Major League baseball.  Ichiro's numbers are combined and last time I checked, Japan's league is not the MLB. Stop your forcing of rules to make your argument, you're bad at it. Ichiro had 3,089 in the MLB. That's just the way it is.  It's not that we don't want to count all of Ichiro's hits, but you are so big about following rules and having Pete Rose have integrity and how he needs to stay out of the Hall of Fame, but you're perfectly fine bending the rules to put Ichiro in as the All-Time hit leader and yet he didn't achieve it in the MLB? You're literally an idiot.

I like reading books to form my own views of the person being written about. I have to say, in all of my years of journalism, I have never quite read a more foolish article/review than the one that Patrick Sauer has written for  "Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball". And here's the worst part; he did O'Brien and injustice. I may never read it because Sauer tainted it with dumb opinions and ego. No one cares that you thought that Pete Rose was a jerk at 9.  I met Rose twice and both times he was fantastic.  And you know what? No one cares about that either.  Rose was a degenerate, a womanizer and got himself in a ton of trouble.  But he's also the all-time hits leader and yet Patrick Sauer cannot admit or praise the one single part that makes up Pete Rose on the baseball field.  

Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame.  He's not a man of character. He's had bad judgement in his life. But at the end of the day, he's a Hall of Famer because of 4,256. That's it.  

Sauer can kick rocks.