I met Pete Rose the weekend of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 at the Paris Sports Book in 2005...He was in there placing bets on horses and by placing bets by my eyes he had about 150k in cash...He was there with an associate and I was the only person there that recognized him...I went up and introduced myself and he said please don't bring attention to me...I said no problem, I understand and went back to my Guiness and cigar...He came over and sat down and shot the shit with me for almost an hour...He was a really nice and down to earth guy...He just had gambling issues...Bart Giomati (spelling) had an ax to grind with him...He had one heck of a memory and really was a great student of the game of baseball and loved the game...He should be in the Hall of Fame and hopefully they put him in...He accomplished more with his talent than maybe any player I have ever seen...He really played the game the way it was meant to be played...He really was "Charlie Hustle"...

I’ll always remember the night he broke the hit record and with flash bulbs popping him rounding first wanting the game to go on but they stopped to honor him. The major networks broke away from regular programming that night when he came up to bat and I believe he got that hit his first chance. It’s a crime that he wasn’t inducted into the hall of fame before he died.

@psujoe stat geeks! Pete is one of the greatest athletes of all time baby!

I was a Big Red Machine Fan.  Gotta love Pete, he was a guy that got the max out of his skills and he did hustle and he was tough.  

My grandfather didn't like him for running over Fosse (catcher) in the All Star game and 'ruining his career'.  I was OK with it, to Pete it was a game to be won and he couldn't play it like a church softball game.  To grandad it was an exhibition.  My point to grandad was that it was not an exhibition to Fosse or he would have stepped forward.  But I guess he could argue that he thought Pete wouldn't be Pete...

Read 'Collision at Home Plate', The Giamatti story.  Still a fan of Pete, he is kind of the end of an era of tough players.  I liked the running ground balls out and putting pressure on outfielders by running out base hits.  Now it is almost an unwritten rule that you can't make a lazy outfielder look stupid.

Do I think Pete ever left his team lose to win a bet?  I don't.  May he have shaved a few runs?  Hmm.  Slippery slope huh.

Now I suppose they can let him in the Hall.  In this era of forgiveness and irresponsibility for every personality flaw Pete has been given nothing.