One Hit Too Many For Pete Rose

We had good seats that day in St. Louis, five rows up from first base at Busch Memorial Stadium. Pete Rose, playing at first, chased a foul pop up our way. Don't you love being part of that whoosh as hundreds of fans stand and will the ball to land near them?

The ball was almost certainly headed for the stands, but Rose made a show of banging into the wall and reaching through the arms and hands seeking the souvenir. A boy with a glove caught the ball, just beyond Rose’s grasp. Rose intentionally smacked the kid in the face with the back of his glove, swore, and told the boy to keep out of the way. Of course, there were boos and hisses from our side of the stands, but Rose just trotted back to his position.

I don’t care how many hits Pete Rose had, I'm betting he had one hit too many. That just doesn’t seem like Hall of Fame behavior, 4,000 hits or not.

What do you think?

In case you missed it, here’s why I dislike Martha Stewart.