Back to back passing posts. Not fun times. This one will be a little longer than yesterday's, because Pete Rose had a larger impact on my life than Dikembe did. That is not to say that I think Pete was better in many ways than Mutombo was. For instance, I think that I would enjoy hanging out with Mutombo far more than I would have with Rose. The drive, focus, maybe even obsession that defined Rose probably wouldn't have made him the easiest friend. In the few shows I have seen where Rose got to talk and show his personality, he seemed intense, almost to the point of being abrasive. But he would have been fun to talk baseball with, as it's almost all he seemed interested in.
The impact Rose had on me was due partly to my obsession with numbers. Heck, that's a part of why baseball and cards are so attractive to me. Baseball is the most statistics oriented of the major sports. And as a kid, one of the first real big numbers that was challenged was 4191. And Pete did the challenging.
He wasn't the best player in the league, though he led the league in several stats several times. But he wanted it as much as anyone, and never let up. He is the all time leader in not only hits, but games played and plate appearances.
I have 71 Pete Rose cards in my keeper collection. Here are 18 of them that popped out at me today when I was looking through them:
Like most all of the vintage that I have been able to accumulate over the years, the is all a little beat up. But with Pete Rose, a little beat up is almost appropriate. I love all of these, but that 64 Topps is one of the jewels of my collection. I don't imagine I will ever have a Pete Rose rookie, but the 64 is a much better looking card anyway. However, if anyone has one, I would like to get a copy of one of the 1998 Topps Pete Rose Jr. cards. Topps Chrome, Flagship or even Opening Day.
