I sorta talked to Pete Rose last night -- hired by the AP to go to the Green Diamond Gallery where he was speaking, I asked to Pete if he had a second and he said no.
I'd already been told he probably wouldn't say anything -- that he didn't want to publicly say anything that could hurt him in the eyes of Bud Selig. And that's fine. He said no, I said thanks and went on. It's smart to not say much and take any chance. I wanted to make sure I heard it from teh horse's mouth, so I did.
Pete walked out with Lee May, and as Pete walked away, May yelled at him, "I'm with you Pete. You belong in."
I think it was a pretty busy day for Pete and certainly some renewed hope for his entry into the Hall of Fame.
According to people who were there, Pete talked for about two hours, told stories and was hilarious. I was also told he was moved by the presence and support of May.
* Ray Fosse doesn't agree with Lee May
* I remember when there were some folks around here -- some paid to know something about baseball -- who wanted to send Johnny Cueto and Joey Votto to the Orioles for Erik Bedard. That was too much for the Reds, but not the Mariners, who sent Adam Jones and four pitchers. The Blue Jays, Indians and Padres have big-ticket items on the trade block -- but no team wants to be seen like the Mariners. Bill Bavasi, who made the trade, is now with the Reds, by the way.
* Is Rickey Henderson the best baseball player ever?
* Former Red DeWayne Wise talks about his catch. You know the one.
* ESPN's Howard Bryant on the legacy of Moneyball. Really interesting reading.
* An interview with former Indians junk-baller Eddie Harris
* A theory that fear of the media attention could keep Michael Vick out of an NFL camp -- to that I say, "Yay media!" (I still would put my money on two teams: Raiders and Redskins)
* The Orlando Magic's Marcin Gorat won't be getting free Reeboks anymore because of his Jordan logo tattoo
* Congrats to the Cincinnati Rollergirls for making the regional tournament this year -- and they'll be kicking ass in St. Paul in September
* The whole Vernon Forrest thing is odd. It's a bad time to be a former boxer right now. (Josh Katzowitz with more on Foreest)
* There's a doccumentary on WOXY online now
* Former Sleater-Kinney guitarist and current NPR columnist Carrie Brownstein makes a good point -- Weezer may have become a novelty band. Take away Pinkerton, and maybe all of their stuff is a novelty.
* Slate on why music magazines are dying
* I guess it's not just me -- the Goods looks anything but
Blogs: C. Trent Rosecrans
Thinking out loud 7.28.9
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I don't know how you could call the blue album a novelty but not Pinkerton. I think they're both good, but that the blue is superior. I do agree that they've never been able to approach the quality of those two albums though.
Weezer as a novelty band is further evidenced by the web release of this: a video game music album of Weezer covers.
http://www.ptesquad.com/more/pte018.html
I don't know that I think Ricky is the best player ever, but her certainly was great. I mean if you look at the records he has, mostly the stolen bases and runs scored records, those belonged to Ty Cobb at one point in time. I think, even though we never go to see him play and to be sure he was a horses ass, Ty Cobb was truly the greatest player ever.
I think at one point in time, Ty Cobb had just about every major offensive record. Maybe not homeruns, but he felt the homerun was over rated. He has the highest career batting average of all time and got 4,000 hits in far far fewer at bats than Mr Rose. I know he played in a totally different era, but it was an era where pitchers scuffed the ball and routinely cheated for advantages.
I do believe Ricky was about the greatest lead off hitter you could ever ask for, but some of his records were because of longevity, which is not a knock on him, it's just my observation.
the sweater song was a huge novelty with the frat boy crowd, that song put the band on the map. then came buddy holly and its happy days inspired video. that too was a novelty.
there was a line in the article on the decline of music magazines about the over-emphasis on lyrics when reviewing music. in the 15 years since i went to college and believed music was a vehicle for high-brow hipster poetry, ive come to that same conslusion. what a singer sings is not as important as how a singer sings. music is at its best when it conveys emotion. i am not a huge weezer fan, but they are whimsical and light-hearted with a clean 90s guitar sound. give me something like that over self-absorbed bs like radiohead anyday of the week.
Pinkerton is not filled with deep songs either, if that's what you're getting at. Weezer doesn't really write many deep songs. They specialize in catchy pop-rock. I just don't see a radical transition in quality from the songs on the blue album to the songs on Pinkerton. And I don't necessarily think because the blue album was more popular that it was a "novelty."
They failed to adapt or change sufficiently as music changed around them, and that's why they aren't very relevant today. They just kept churning out the smae kind of stuff.
'Hired'?? Did I read 'Hired'?? Was this a one-off or is there more in the works? Or did I completely miss the point?
* Ray Fosse doesn’t agree with Lee May
Probably because Ray is still feeling the pain from seeing his arse run over on DIAMOND VISION every freaking time there are all-star highlights ;)
Put Pete in the hall- but put it ALL in the hall... to remind people what he did. A great player that messed up-and gambled away his chance at a lively hood in baseball. I say IN THE HALL- STILL OUT OF THE GAME. He's already made his contribution to MLB.
People point out that Pete never bet against the Reds, but no betting on the Reds in a game, is just as bad as betting against them. Betting for or against, is no different in my opinion because those who knew how he bet had an advantage. It's a lot like insider trading if you ask me and it's totally unethical.
I agree though, put him in the Hall of Fame and document the cloud that has been over him for 20 years. Do the same with McGwire and Bonds. The Hall of Fame is a Museum and 100 years from now people need to have the infomration and history surrounding the game in this era.
So tired of the Pete story. This has happened every couple of years now for the last decade. Just make a freaking decision. Either put him in, or leave him out and declare that you will not consider it anymore, period, as long as Bud is Commish. Enough already.
The HOF is a museum of the history of baseball: the good, the bad and the ugly. It's also a place for the greates players in the game. Pete, as well as the steroid linked guys, are all some of the best players in the game, and they fit into "the bad" or "the ugly" of the game. But it's part of the history of the game, and it has to be acknowledged.
Great piece by Bryant. Sounds like Beane's lucky that movie got spiked. Odd that he can't see that.
Another interesting aspect of all this relates to how certain writers and broadcasters carried water for their scout buddies. I don't normally credit many of those guys with farsightedness, but it seems like they were arguing against their own fate, in addition to their buddies'.
Now both the old sportswriter and the old scout can bitch about the "geeks in their mom's basements."