ESPN CLASSIC

Signature Game
Sept. 11, 1985 - At 44, Rose still played baseball with the joy of a boy. And there was plenty of joy in Cincinnati when he lined a single to left-center off San Diego's Eric Show in the first inning. The hit was Rose's 4,192nd, breaking Ty Cobb's 57-year-old major league record.

His teammates mobbed the 23-year veteran and owner Marge Schott presented him with a red Corvette, driven in from behind the outfield fence. While the sellout crowd of 47,237 at Riverfront Stadium enthusiastically cheered, Rose wept as he waved to the fans. Then he threw his head on first-base coach Tommy Helms' shoulder.

From the dugout another No. 14 with the same name on his back ran on to the field. It was 15-year-old Pete Rose Jr. Falling into his father's arms at first base, the two embraced with tears in their eyes.

"That's basically the first time he really grabbed me and hugged me," Pete Jr. said. "He just said I see your grandfather in the sky and turned and told me he loved me."

Odds 'n' Ends

In one football game, Pete's father Harry broke his hip on the kickoff, then crawled downfield to try to make a tackle.

Harry once ran the 100-yard dash in 10.5 seconds and had a brief but successful boxing career as Pee Wee Sams.

As a kid, Pete initially wanted to be a catcher.

Rose went 2-for-5 with an RBI in his professional debut on June 25, 1960 with the Geneva Redlegs of the New York-Penn League.

At Macon in 1962, Rose would exit out the back of a 65-mile-an-hour station wagon, climb over the roof and then stare at his manager and driver Dave Bristol through the windshield.

Although most remember Rose as No. 14, he wore No. 27 his rookie year (1963) with the Reds.

Rose says his on-the-field enthusiasm came from watching Enos "Country" Slaughter of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mickey Mantle was clocked at 3.1 seconds from home to first. Rose was clocked at 3.8 - after drawing a walk.

Rose was the quickest to reach 3,000 hits in point of service, one month into his 16th season.

During his 44-game hitting streak in 1978, Rose singled six times in his final at-bat. Four times his only hit was a bunt.

Rose batted .385 during the streak and struck out only five times.

After Gene Garber struck out Rose on a sidearm breaking ball in the ninth inning to end the streak, Rose complained that the Braves reliever didn't challenge him with fastballs. "I was a little surprised that in a game that was 16-4, he pitched me like it was the seventh game of the World Series. I guess he thought it was Joe DiMaggio up there."

During the streak, the concessionaires at Shea Stadium sent him a "thank you" card for turning out the fans when the Reds were in New York and therefore boosting their sales.

Trying to keep Rose with the Reds after the 1978 season, broadcaster Bob Trumpy tried to have the Cincinnati Zoo declare Pete an "endangered species." When that failed, he suggested that Rose be declared a historic landmark. The City Planning Commission did designate him as "listed property," which prohibited "demolition, displacement or relocation."

Rose signed with the Philadelphia Phillies anyway.

In 1980, Rose played for six weeks with a broken toe. He cut open his right shoe to ease the pain. That season he played in 162 games and rapped out 185 hits.

With Philadelphia in 1983, Rose was benched for the first time in his career after going 0-for-20 to drop his average to .238.

In 1984, Rose was traded for the first time in his career, from Montreal to Cincinnati.

In his first at-bat as Reds player/manager, Rose lined a run-scoring single in a Cincinnati win over the Cubs.

When asked by one journalist if Rose thought Cobb was looking down at him while chasing his hits record, Pete responded, "From what I know about the guy, he may not be up there. He may be down there."

As Cobb's son James liked to remind people, Cobb's 4,191 hits came in 11,429 at-bats while Rose needed 13,771 at-bats to break the record.

In 1988 National League president Bart Giamatti suspended Rose for 30 days for bumping umpire Dave Pallone. It was the longest suspension in 41 years since Happy Chandler suspended Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher for the entire 1947 season.

Andy Warhol painted a portrait of Rose that has been displayed in the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Rose constantly cleaned his bat with alcohol before and after trips to the plate, regardless of whether it was practice or a game. The procedure was done so he could see where cowhide had met wood.

In his 24 seasons, Rose averaged 177 hits a year. Cobb averaged 175 in his 24 seasons.

In his first autobiography, "Pete Rose: My Story," written with Roger Kahn and published in 1989, Rose denied betting on baseball.

According to show promoters, Rose can sign his relatively short name 600 times an hour. At $8 to $12 dollars a pop, that's about $20,000 for a card-show appearance.

Rose has three children, Fawn and Pete Jr. from his first marriage and Tyler Edward Rose from his second, to Carol Woilung, a former Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader. Tyler was named in honor of Tyrus Cobb. Pete Jr. briefly played for the Reds.