Pete Rose is the heart and soul of the Cincinnati Reds‘ franchise for better and worse.
No other baseball player in history seemed more destined to become such an integral part of a team than Rose did for the Reds.
In large part, that’s because none of the other legends of the game were truly native sons for their hometown teams to the degree that Rose was. Born and raised in Cincinnati, Rose became synonymous with the Reds and the city.
All told, Rose won back-to-back World Series championships with the Big Red Machine and had 3,358 of his 4,256 career hits with the Reds in his 19 seasons with the team.
Rose broke the 4,191-hit record while with the Reds and led the Reds to three straight second-place division finishes as manager of the Reds in his only full seasons as Reds’ skipper.
Unfortunately, the end of Rose’s career with the Reds deteriorated into a debacle that would forever mar his legacy nationally.
Locally, however, Rose remains the Cincinnati legend with the headfirst slide and relentless effort that will forever override his many faults for the generations of Reds’ fans that witnessed his play.
This weekend will showcase the connection between Rose, the Reds and Cincinnati during a three-day ceremony fit for an undisputed Hit King.
The Reds are finally doing what should have been done a long time ago by formally retiring Rose’s No. 14 and inducting him into the team’s Hall of Fame.
The Reds are also celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1976 Big Red Machine that went undefeated in the postseason by sweeping their way through a playoff championship series and World Series.
The commemoration of Rose and the Big Red Machine this weekend won’t salvage the Reds’ franchise from its recent failures, but it might help Reds’ fans forget for awhile just how bad the Reds are right now.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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