In case you missed them, the results are here.
I think that baseball should be very careful in measuring Rose’s popularity. The one case of a bad survey that I keep in my mind is the one that resulted in the New Coke fiasco. Pepsi kept doing taste tests that showed that Pepsi tasted better than Coke. Coke decided it was true, so they changed the formula to make Coke sweeter, or more like Pepsi. What Coke didn’t realize, however, was that the people who bought the bulk of the soda, drank Coke because it wasn’t as sweet as Pepsi. Coke sales fell off. Coke then introduced Coke Classic for those who liked the old taste, and eventually, New Coke disappeared.
Our poll is a poll of baseball fanatics; the kind of people that keep watching through thick and thin; the people who buy tickets and watch on TV and listen to radio and really care about baseball. I don’t think Rose’s popularity with this population is very high. Baseball has to be careful that they are not appeasing the wrong population by letting Rose back in. It’s not going to win them any new fans, and might cause some of the more die hard people to think less of the game.
Here are some comments I received:
Ratings based on how I admire them as a person as seen through the mists of media. Their accomplishments do count but my major issues are how selfish their concerns & what did they overcome to get to their stellar level.
Petey was always kind of an egotistical jerk, but he should be in the Hall, heck, 4000+ hits should count for something. As far as I can tell, even if he DID bet on baseball, or even his own team, he never bet on them to lose.
For the most part, I don’t even care what the current HOFers say about Rose. Great (arrogant) player, lousy person. Utterly and totally living in denial. A Gambler, and a professional player who knew the rules. HE SIGNED THE AGREEMENT that keeps him out. I’ve read the Dowd report, more people should.
This is a pretty motley crew, David. A vengeful home run king, an egomaniacal stolen base king, baseball’s Trent Lott, a couple of wildly overrated volume performers… why not Steve Howe or Vince Coleman or any of the real heroes of the generation?
I have heard that Maddux is an asshole, and I have a friend who worked at Pete Rose’s Sports Bar in Florida, who says the same about him (but she did get me an autographed baseball card). I’ve also heard that some player said (I think during the 80’s) that Nolan Ryan was the only player he knew who didn’t cheat on his wife.
Rose is a sleezebag. Always has been, always will be.
admirable is something different than popular, which is how Rose was described. In general, I have no idea how admirable my favorite players are. (Or the people listed above.) And sometimes, it doesn’t matter. I retain a fondness for Dwight Gooden, who doesn’t seem to be particularly admirable, and love hasn’t been admirable in a lot of ways.
Yes, Cal is lower than Rickey… all those stories about separate hotels and special treatment take their toll, especially against a mostly-innocuous group.
yep, you were right. Put him on a list with these guys (a smattering of his contemporaries), and Rose looks like the black sheep.
That’s a funny list of players. I don’t exactly know how admirable these guys are, so some of my picks are silly. I am sure that Pete Rose, Cal Ripken and Nolan Ryan are not people I admire. I also feel that Rickey isn’t as big a douche bag as popularly believed, though I would be shocked if he doesn’t place 9 to Pete Rose’s 10.
If you gave me a list of every player in teh history of baseball Cal Ripken would still be last. What a phony. He hurt his team and he worked to project an image of a team player while seeking his own hotel on the road and other assorted examples of rampant arrogance and self-importance. Cal Ripken is the most selfish ballplayer I have seen and I lived in and around Baltimore his entire career. Yuck!
Hank Aaron seems to exude class as does Nolan Ryan. Cal Ripken rates so low for me because he truly seemed to put his personal goals ahead of his team. Pete Rose is a liar, plain and simple.
There’s one other thing I’d like to get out there. I’ve never liked Pete Rose. In the last few weeks, I’ve wondered why. There are a number of bad-boys out there that I did like; Albert Belle and Rickey Henderson, for two. But Rose was somehow different. I think I finally put my finger on it. Rose was tenacious, yes. He was intimidating, yes. These are qualities that I usually admire in a player. But there was a difference with Rose. Rose was a bully.
How can you tell? Let’s take the two most famous altercations in which rose was involved.
Let’s start with a list of some of the 1973 Mets by weight:
WT ---- 160 Bud Harrelson 170 Rich Chiles Ken Boswell Willie Mays 172 Felix Millan 175 Brian Ostrosser Wayne Garrett 180 Don Hahn 185 Ron Hodges Jerry Grote John Milner Cleon Jones 187 Duffy Dyer 190 Rusty Staub George Theodore Jerry May Jim Beauchamp Jim Fregosi 205 Ed Kranepool
I have Rose listed at 192. So who does he pick on? The smallest guy on the Mets. Not someone his own size like Grote or Milner or Kranepool. He goes after the little guy, Bud Harrelson. To Bud’s credit, he stood up for himself.
The other famous altercation was with umpire Dave Pallone. Pallone was a scab, who had acquired his job during the 1979 umpires strike. He was never accepted by the other umpires. So Pallone was an easy target for Rose’s wrath. He knew no other ump would back up Pallone. So when Rose was accidentially poked in the eye by Pallone, a fight ensued.
Maybe I’m wrong here, but I just don’t see any reason why this particular player should be so popular. I will be very disappointed if he is reinstated.