|
With the money I'm making, I should be playing two positions.
PETE ROSE, attributed, Sportswit (Green, 1986)
Baseball is a universal language. Catch the ball, throw the ball, hit the ball.
PETE ROSE, My Prison Without Bars
Somebody's gotta win and somebody's gotta lose and I believe in letting the other guy lose.
PETE ROSE, attributed, Baseball (Clark, 1976)
I'm a believer the only way I can't hit .300 is if there is something physically wrong with me. I really get a kick out of picking up the newspaper early in the season and seeing guys with 25 or 30 more hits than me and knowing I'll catch 'em.
PETE ROSE, attributed, Baseball (Clark, 1976)
Of the 17 baseball players who have been banned for life, none have ever been reinstated. But since I have seven major league and 12 National League records, you'll understand why I would like to add just one more "first" to my tally before I settle in for the big dirt-nap. Not that I think I deserve better than those other guys--I just love to win.
PETE ROSE, My Prison Without Bars
Playing baseball for a living is like having a license to steal.
PETE ROSE, attributed, Take Me Out to the Ballgame (Osborn, 1995)
Some guys play golf. Some drive race cars or fly jets. Some guys drink booze or chase women. Some guys go to church. Others drink booze, chase women, and go to church all at the same time! My outlet was gambling. It was my hobby and my passion. When I gambled, I always looked for an edge ... a jockey who knew how to hug the rail ... a trainer who had a great work ethic ... a horse that could break fast and finish strong ... a receiver who could cut across the middle without hearing footsteps ... a boxer who could take a punch. Every bet I ever made, regardless of the sport, I made with the intention of winning the event, not the money. In fact, if I found out that a jockey was betting on himself to win, I'd bet that jockey every goddamn time. So, the idea of betting to "lose" is about as foreign to me as living on Mars. As out of control as I got with my gambling, I never bet against my own team--ever.
PETE ROSE, My Prison Without Bars
To be honest with you, I picked the wrong vice. I should have picked alcohol. I should have picked drugs or I should have picked up beating up my wife or girlfriend because if you do those three, you get a second chance. They haven’t given too many gamblers a second chances in the world of baseball.
PETE ROSE, interview with John Phillips on 93.7 The Fan, Aug. 12, 2013
I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball.
PETE ROSE, My Prison Without Bars
I'm just like everybody else. I have two arms, two legs and four-thousand hits.
PETE ROSE, attributed, 22 Success Lessons from Baseball (White, 2003)
We didn’t have no scabs. That’s another reason why the baseball umpires have such a good union; they’ve always stayed together, too. Umpires got power, man. You ever notice if you go to a ballpark and there’s a close play on first base, they will not run the replay at the ballpark? I’ve seen umpires go underneath and call up and say if you run one more of those replays, we’re gonna forfeit the game. That’s how strong their union is.
PETE ROSE, interview, Grantland, Apr. 4, 2013
I'm lucky to have the opportunity to play baseball. However, I'm not lucky because I'm a good baseball player. I like to think that I am good because I worked hard and am dedicated to the game.
PETE ROSE: Pete Rose: My Life in Baseball
I enjoy Shea Stadium. But the fans are something else. I look upon each game there as an experience. I get to go to a zoo and don't have to pay admission.
PETE ROSE, attributed, The Complete Armchair Book of Baseball
Am I still in uniform? Then I ain't retired.
PETE ROSE, St. Petersburg Times, Mar. 23, 1989
My advice to anybody listening is don’t do like I did, don’t do like Alex did or do what Braun did. Don’t do like any of those guys did. Don’t lie if you are confronted about something that you made a mistake. The faster you come clean the better of you are going to be.
PETE ROSE, interview with John Phillips on 93.7 The Fan, Aug. 12, 2013
Sliding headfirst is the safest way to get to the next base, I think. And the fastest. You don't lose your momentum.... And there is one more important reason that I slide headfirst. It gets my picture in the newspaper.
PETE ROSE, Pete Rose: My Life in Baseball
Some people say it matters not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. Well, that's a lot of toro poopo.
PETE ROSE, attributed, Baseball (Clark, 1976)
I have gathered together a whole heap of trophies. The only award I've never won and don't ever want to win is the Comeback of the Year Award.
PETE ROSE, attributed, The Complete Armchair Book of Baseball
Whoever said "It's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game" is full of it! Winning makes all the difference in the world. Winning is fun. Losing is not. Losing sucks.
PETE ROSE, My Prison Without Bars
I don't smoke. Smoking will hurt you when you try to run out a triple.
PETE ROSE, Pete Rose: My Life in Baseball
The only book I ever read cover to cover was The Pete Rose Story. I read half of The Lou Gehrig Story and then made a book report on it for four straight years.
PETE ROSE, attributed, Baseball (Clark, 1976)
Everyone has seen a batter strike out. This grown man throws his bat and then kicks his helmet. Why did he take it out on the helmet and the bat? He was the one who couldn't hit the ball. If you want to do something to show you are angry, go beat your own head against the wall. You are the one who struck out.
PETE ROSE, Pete Rose: My Life in Baseball
Here’s what people don’t understand. When I was in the league for five, six, seven, eight years, I could sit down with you and I could tell you who’s a low-ball umpire, who’s a high-ball umpire, who’s a pitcher’s umpire, who’s a hitter’s umpire, who’s a good umpire, who’s a bad umpire. Bruce Froemming, I know Bruce Froemming his whole career. Just because he gets a memo from the commissioner’s office to change the strike zone, if he’s seen it the same way for 25 years, he’s not gonna change his strike zone. So it’s up to you to know what umpire is gonna call this pitch. And all you want him to be is consistent. None of them call what the rulebook says. The rulebook says from the knees to the armpit — you ever see a guy call a pitch up there?
PETE ROSE, interview, Grantland, Apr. 4, 2013
I don't like to be compared to Joe Jackson. because Joe Jackson, I think, took money to throw World Series games. Well, I know I bet on my own team to win. There’s pretty much a big difference there, but both of us were wrong.
PETE ROSE, interview with John Phillips on 93.7 The Fan, Aug. 12, 2013
Unfortunately, gambling and winning don't often go hand-in-hand.
PETE ROSE, My Prison Without Bars
Doctors tell me I have the body of a thirty year old. I know I have the brain of a fifteen year old. If you've got both, you can play baseball.
PETE ROSE, Sports Illustrated, Jun. 17, 1985
Hitting. That's what I enjoy most. Realistically, it's probably the hardest thing to do in all of sport. Think about it. You've got a round ball, a round bat, and the object is to hit it square.
PETE ROSE, attributed, Baseball (Clark, 1976)
The manager of a team is like a stagecoach, he can't move unless he has the horses.
PETE ROSE, Pete Rose: My Life in Baseball
What we’ve done for baseball is this: We made all the ballparks smaller, we’ve juiced up the ball, the pitchers are bigger and stronger, and we won’t call strikes. Everything is against the pitcher. They should raise the mound again, put them on even terms. They lowered the mound after the ’68 season; that’s because Bob Gibson had 13 shutouts and Denny McLain won 31 games. And they haven’t done anything with it since then.
PETE ROSE, interview, Grantland, Apr. 4, 2013
Bottles have come close ... and once a piece of ice came whizzing by, so I gave my middle to indicate one out, the Polish go-go sign they call it.
PETE ROSE, attributed, Baseball (Clark, 1976)
When people ask me, "Who was the toughest pitcher you ever faced?", I have to say that there has never been a pitcher who over-impressed me. That's not meant to be a bragging statement. It's just that I get up for good pitchers.
PETE ROSE, Pete Rose: My Life in Baseball
It doesn't take much to get me up for baseball. Once the National Anthem plays, I get chills. I even know the words to it now.
PETE ROSE, attributed, The Complete Armchair Book of Baseball
Baseball Trivia - a fun baseball trivia quiz.
|
