The Cincinnati Reds were flying home when their plane ran into turbulence. Most of the Reds were not upset, but one or two players always became fearful the moment they stepped into a plane.
Reds’ Captain Pete Rose was not one of them. Few things frightened Pete Rose. Grinning from ear to ear, he shouted to anyone who would listen.
“We’re going down. We’re going down, and I have a .300 lifetime average to take with me!”
Rose had broken Tommy Holmes’ National League consecutive game hitting streak the previous week when he hit safely in his 38th straight game. He then passed Ty Cobb’s mark of 40 and tied George Sisler’s 41.
The streak, which started on June 14, 1978, didn’t surprise Rose.
“When you think about it, it’s strange I never had a long streak going before,” he said after tying Holmes’ record. “I’ve had nine 200-hit seasons. You’d think I’d have put some of those hits back to back.”
Six times during the streak, Rose needed a hit his last at-bat. Six times, he hit safely.
Mickey Mantle is considered the greatest switch-hitter in history, but it was Rose who broke Frankie Frisch’s record for switch-hitters when he batted at least .300 for the 12th time in his career.
Reds’ fans love Rose, but many opponents and most of their fans prefer to not send him Christmas cards. He has been booed ferociously for his style of play, which resembles that of Ty Cobb and Enos Slaughter.
During the 1970 All-Star game, Rose scored the winning run by running over catcher Ray Fosse and basically ruining Fosse’s career. New York Mets’ fans still remember when Rose and Bud Harrelson had a “slight” altercation during the 1973 playoffs.
But in 1978, fans acknowledged great accomplishments, even by hated enemies. Rose reacted to the fans’ reactions.
“One of the nice things about the streak has been going around the league and experiencing the fans’ reaction. Imagine me getting a standing ovation in New York I thought the only way I’d get a standing ovation in New York was to drop dead on the field.”
The Reds were facing the Mets in New York when Rose was attempting to hit safely in his 37th consecutive game, which would tie Tommy Holmes record. As he came to hit in the seventh inning, the Mets’ fans actually shouted, “Let’s go, Pete!”
Facing right-hander Pat Zachry, a former teammate, Rose wasted no time singling to left field to tie the record. The fans cheered him for three minutes.
Rose was proud of his feat, but for Pete, the Reds always came first. When he was asked what was his first thought after getting the hit, he looked the reporter straight in the eye and said,
“I wanted to be sure I had a chance at second in case the ball took a bad hop. We’re in a pennant race, you know.”
What he said next was pure Pete Rose, who has more character than almost anyone who ever owned a baseball team, served as baseball commissioner or is a Hall of Fame voter.
“Nobody has as many personal problems as I have, and I think I have as many injuries as anybody. But I play. I want to play, and I want to play every day. Everybody tells me I’m crazy, but that’s the only way I know.”
Manager Sparky Anderson: “He’s the last of the old breed. I won’t see another one like him in my time, and that makes me sad.”
Reference:
“Sport: Rose: The Joy of Summer.” Time 7 Aug. 1978: 70+. General OneFile. Web. 21 Oct. 2011.