Pete Rose

Pete Rose is a former star major league baseball player who is the all-time leader in base hits. However, Rose threw everything away by gambling on baseball (and lying about it), thereby destroying his legacy and barring him from enshrinement in the prestigious Hall of Fame.

Rose was born on April 14, 1941 in Cincinnati, OH. Sports were an important part of Rose's life during his youth. He participated in both football and baseball while he was a high school student. Unfortunately, Rose was not gifted academically and apparently failed courses his sophomore year - he was given the option of attending summer school or repeating his sophomore year. Rose' father's choose for Pete to repeat his sophomore year so that he wouldn't have to given up playing baseball during the following summer. Consequently, when Pete Rose reached his senior year in high school, he had already used up his four years of sports eligibility. Rose was able to continue playing baseball during his senior year by playing games on a Class AA baseball team in the Dayton Amateur League. Rose performed well, playing several positions and batting over .500.

The Cincinnati Reds were aware of Pete Rose and in June 1960 signed a professional contract with the Reds. Rose played well in the minor leagues between 1960 and 1962, setting a Class D league record for triples in a season in 1961 and batting .330 in 1962 in Class A. In 1963 Rose was given the opportunity to start at second base during spring training after the Red's starting second baseman, Don Blasingame, pulled a groin muscle. Rose performed well and was elevated to the Reds' starting second baseman. During Spring Training, Rose was given his signature nickname, "Charlie Hustle," by Hall of Fame Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford after Ford saw Rose apparently showboating by sprinting to first base after drawing a walk.

Rose played well as a rookie in 1963, finishing the year batting .273 and acquiring 170 hits. Rose was rewarded for his efforts by winning the Rookie of the Year Award. Two years later, in 1965, Rose had his first .300+ season, batting .312 with 209 hits and finishing sixth in the National League MVP vote. Rose continued to play well throughout the 1960s, leading the National League in batting average in 1968 and 1969, and finishing second the the MVP vote in 1969.

Although Rose was respected for his tenacious style of play, he also began the garner a reputation as one of the biggest and most egocentric jerk/asshole in the game of baseball. In the 1970 All-Star game, for example, Rose plowed into the American League's catcher, Ray Fosse, separating Fosse's shoulder and igniting a quick decline in Fosse's career. The play occurred during the 12th inning of the All-Star game as Rose was trying to score the winning run. Fosse stood in the baseline waiting to catch a throw to home plate when Rose barreled over Fosse, separating Fosse's shoulder. At the time, baseball fans gave Rose a pass for playing into Fosse because he was trying to score the winning run and Fosse was standing in the base path. However, public opinion eventually turned against Rose as he began trash-talking about the incident in an effort to make himself appear more masculine.

Rose supposedly began lying about Fosse, saying that he and Fosse
had been out partying until 2 AM the night before the All-Star game and that "he had [still] been willing to slam into a good friend the way he did." Rose apparently fabricated the entire background of the story, as Fosse has stated that he had never met Rose before that All-Star game. Rose also infuriated fans when he later said, "I could have never looked my father in the eye again, if I hadn't hit Fosse that day."

Despite his actions in the 1970s All-Star game, Rose continued to play well throughout the 1970s. He was arguably the best contact hitter throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In 1973 he had his best season, with 230 hits, a .338 batting average, and winning the National League MVP award. The Reds made the playoffs in 1973 and Rose famously started a fight with the diminutive New Work Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson while attempting to break up a double play during the National League playoffs during a game played in New York. The game was nearly forfeited after the feisty New York crowd started throwing bottles and other garbage onto the field in the direction of Pete Rose.

Rose was a major component of the "Big Red Machine," as the Cincinnati Reds were called during the 1970s. The Big Red Machine was one of the most dominant teams of the 1970s, winning the National League West division six times, playing in four World Series, and winning two World Series titles, in 1975 and 1976.

In 1978 Rose recorded the longest hitting streak in National League history, and the second longest of all time (next to Joe Dimaggio's 56-game hitting streak) when he recorded hits in 44 consecutive games. Rose's streak nearly ended during the 32 game until Rose was able to leg out a bunt single in the 9th inning of the game. Rose came across as a whiny crybaby after a game against the Braves when his streak ended - he was upset after striking out during the ninth inning because the Atlanta Braves' pitcher hadn't thrown him a fastball to hit. Rose also recorded his 3,000 hit in 1978, becoming only the 13th player at the time to get so many career hits.

After the 1978 season, Rose left the Reds and joined the Philadelphia Phillies, who made him the highest paid player in the game at the time. Rose proved to be a positive addition to the Phillies, helping them win the first championship in the old franchise's history in 1980.

After five seasons in Philadelphia, Rose returned signed a contract with the Montreal Expos for the 1984 season. Rose apparently left the Phillies because the team was going to reduce his playing time after he had the worst season of his career up to that point, hitting a pedestrian .245 with a pathetic slugging percentage of .286. Rose, however, had grand ambitions of breaking Ty Cobb's all-time record of 4189 hits and the Expos gave him the opportunity to play a starting position on their team.

In 1984 Rose recorded his 4,000th hit, becoming only the second player, along with Ty Cobb, to do so. The Expos traded Rose to the Reds for infielder Tom Lawless on August 15, 1984. After the trade, Rose was immediately elevated to the role of player-manager. Rose was baseball's last player-manager.

Despite rapidly diminished hitting skills, Rose continued to plow forward and continued to play for two more seasons. On September 11, 1985 Rose recorded the 4,192nd hit of his career against the San Diego Padres' pticher Eric Show, breaking Ty Cobb's record. Hall of Fame player Ted Williams was supposedly not impressed with Rose's record and when asked about Rose's career hits, Williams reportedly remarked that most of Rose's hits were singles.

Rose retired after the 1986 but continued to manage the Reds. Rose was a decent manager, leading the Reds to second-place finishes in the National Leagues' West division during his four full seasons at the helm. Rose was known for his intense managerial style, often clashing with umpires during arguments. During a game against the Mets on April 30, 1988, Rose was suspended for 30 games after infamously pushing an umpire while arguing a call.


Rumors began swirling that Rose had bet on baseball. Gambling on baseball is one of the most egregious sins in the game and the sin which resulted in the suspension of several White Sox player during the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal when the White Sox threw the series.

In February 1989, Rose was questioned by by outgoing commissioner Peter Ueberroth. Rose denied allegations of gambling and Ueberroth dropped the investigation. However, three days after Ueberroth's successor, Bart Giamatti, became Commissioner, lawyer John M. Dowd was retained to investigate gambling charges against Rose. Dowd interviewed many alleged bookies and bet runners who were associated with Rose. Dowd summarized his findings to the Commissioner in May, 1989. Dowd's report documented Rose's alleged gambling activities in 1985 and 1986 and listed a day-by-day account of Rose's alleged betting on baseball games in 1987. Dowd's report also documented Rose's alleged bets on 52 Reds games in 1987, where Rose wagered at least $10,000 a day. There was no evidence that Rose had bet against the Reds in any of his bets.

However, Commissioner Giamatti was livid and decided to make an example of Rose to make it clear that gambling would not be tolerated. Despite denying all of the allegations, Rose voluntarily accepted a permanent place on baseball’s ineligible list on August 24, 1989. Rose was allowed to apply for reinstatement one year later. Rose also began therapy with a psychiatrist for treatment of a gambling addiction in 1989.

In a December 2002 interview, investigator Dowd stated that he believed that Rose may have bet against the Reds while managing them.

On April 20, 1990, Rose pleaded guilty to two charges of filing false income tax returns not showing income he received from selling autographs and memorabilia, and from horse racing winnings. On July 19, Rose was sentenced to five months in the medium security Prison Camp at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois and fined $50,000. Ironically, Rose was driven past a baseball field named after Ray Fosse on his way to prison.

As a member of baseball's ineligible list, Rose has not been eligible to be voted into the Hall of Fame. If Rose hadn't gambled on baseball games, Rose would surely have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility with a near-unanimous vote.

Rose continued to deny the gambling allegations throughout the 1990s and eventually developed a base of fans who wanted him enshrined in the Hall of Fame. In 1999, Rose was voted onto baseball's All-Century team and received a standing ovation before Game 2 of the 1999 World Series. Immediately after the ovation, Rose was asked by NBC's Jim Gray whether he was willing to finally admit to gambling on baseball. Rose vehemently denied ever gambling on baseball and NBC was subjected to public outcry for airing Gray's rude interview.


In 2004, Rose finally admitted to gambling on baseball in his autobiography, My Prison Without Bars. Rose also admitted to betting on Reds games for the Reds to win. Rose was apparently hoping that everyone would forgive him after coming clean. However, Rose was in for a rude awakening when the public turned against him for lying for the previous 15 years.

Ever since receiving his ban, Rose has maintained a living by appearing at memorabilia shows and other venues selling autographed baseballs, bats, photos, and other items. He often wears a hat that reads, "Hit King" and has recently been appearing with a 29-year-old Korean woman named Kiana Kim, who is supposedly his girlfriend. Rose grossed out listeners of the Howard Stern Show when he claimed that he has sex with Kim three times a day without Viagra. Rose also claimed that instead of using birth control he pulls out and shoots his load on his bedroom wall.


Despite having a reputation as a jerk and hot-head, Pete Rose was once one of the most respected players in the game at the time of his retirement in 1986. He cared was focused on setting records and winning. Although renowned for his play on the field, Rose was also famous for his bowl haircut and lack of fashion sense off the field, as shown below in this photo he took for Playboy in the 1970s.


Rose tarnished his baseball legacy and disgraced the game by gambling on baseball and then lying about it for 15 years before finally coming clean. Rose will probably never be taken of baseball's ineligible list as long as he is alive. Despite holding the all-time record for hits, at bats, games played and being one of the career leaders in other categories such as doubles and total bases, Rose has become a pariah of the game. Even when Rose tries to do the right thing, he often screws up, as he did in 2007 when he swore like a sailor while speaking at a "Reds' Legends Baseball Camp." Rose was also recently accused of using a corked bat during the 1980s. For this and the other reasons discussed above, Pete Rose is one washed-up sports celebrity!

Jose Canseco

In view of the fact that the disgraced steroid-abusing San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds recently tied one of Major League Baseball's most hallowed records, Hank Aaron's lifetime home run record, I decided that it was time to add a profile a washed-up sports celebrity. The first washed-up sports celebrity that I will profile is Jose Canseco.

I. Jose Canseco’s Early Life

Jose Canseco, born July 2, 1964 in Havana, Cuba, is a former a former Major League outfielder and designated hitter. Canseco grew up in a suburb of Miami, Florida with his family and twin brother Ozzie Canseco. He was drafted by the Oakland Athletics directly out of high school and eventually became one of the best players in baseball was well on his way to the Hall of Fame until his career unexpectedly short-circuited, leaving him disgraced and destitute.

As a 15-year old youth at Coral Park high school, Canseco stood about 5'11" and weighed 155 pounds. He was too small to play football, so he joined the school's baseball team. He claims that he wasn't good enough to play varsity right away, so he was relegated to the junior varsity team until his senior year. Canseco was a natural athlete with good hand-eye coordination and was good enough to earn the MVP award on this JV team during his junior year. Several members of the varsity team graduated after his junior year, and Canseco finally received his chance to play on the varsity team as a senior in high school. Canseco's skills continued rapidly improved throughout high school and he performed well enough to earn the team's MVP award as a senior in high school.

II. Canseco’s Time In The Minor Leagues

Canseco was drafted by the Oakland A's in the fifteenth round of 1982 amateur draft and received a $10,000 signing bonus. Canseco began his minor league career in a Pioneer league team in Idaho Falls. Canseco struggled during his 28 games at Idaho Falls, hitting barely .260 with only two home runs. He played against eventual major league pitcher David Wells during his early years in the minor leagues. David Wells had the following to say about Canseco at the time:

"Staring down this poor sap from the pitcher's mound, his uniform flapping loosely in the breeze, I remember thinking, Jesus Christ, this guy could Hula-Hoop inside a Cheerio. The toothpick's name was Jose Canseco, and before the game was over, I'd beat him for four dribbled groundouts and a nice, fat K."

Canseco continued to toil in the minor leagues for the next couple years. In 1984, he made a deathbed promise to his mother that he was going to be the best athlete in the world, no matter what it took to do so. At the end of the 1984 minor league season, Canseco stood at 6'4" and weighed a thin 185 pounds. However, during the off-season Canseco lifted weights like a madman and started injecting himself (a.k.a. "juicing") with anabolic steroids in an effort to make it to the major leagues.

By the start of the 1985 season, Canseco had gained 25 pounds of rock-solid muscle and started looking more like a body-builder than a baseball player. Canseco was tearing the cover off of the ball; hitting .318 with 25 home runs and 80s RBIs in only 58 games for the A's Double-A team in Huntsville, Alabama. He again faced pitcher David Wells, who had this to say about Canseco:

"One year later ... Canseco and I would cross paths again ... and I was stunned to find that 'the Idaho skinny guy' had somehow grown up to become a freaking Macy's balloon. Brand-new biceps ripped out from under his uniform sleeves. Thick slabs of beef padded his formerly bony frame. A pair of tree trunks now connected to his ankles. Seven innings and two 450-foot moon shots later, I still had no idea what to make of this new improved mutant. Was this kind of super-size growth spurt even possible? What the hell was this monster eating?"

III. Canseco’s Major League Career

Canseco was called up by the A's at the end of the 1985 season, and hit .302 with 5 home runs in 29 games. The following season was his break-through year, as he 33 home runs, was named to the All-Star team, and won the American League Rookie of the Year award. Canseco kept his juicing while at the major league level and followed up with another solid season in 1987.

During the subsequent season, 1988, Canseco had his finest season, winning the American League MVP award in a unanimous decision and becoming the first player in major league history to join the 40-40 club (i.e., hit at least 40 home runs and steal at least 40 bases in the same season). Canseco also played on perhaps the best team during the 1980s. Mark McGwire was his power-hitting teammate, and the two of them were known as the "Bash Brothers" because they were both huge and gave each other forearm bashes after hitting home runs. The 1988 Oakland Athletics made it to the World Series, losing to the L.A. Dodgers in one of the biggest World Series upsets in the past 25 years.

Canseco's 1989 season was cut short by injuries, although he did return in time to help his team win the World Series. By the end of the 1980s, Canseco was on the fast-track to the Hall of Fame. He was one of the most popular players in the game of baseball, but he quickly fell by the wayside as his career spectacularly collapsed.

IV. Canseco Becomes the Butt of Jokes

In 1992 he was traded to the Texas Rangers. During the 1993 season, Canseco received unwanted attention for two on-field debacles that occurred within days of each other. In a May 26th game against the Cleveland Indians, Canseco was playing right field when Carlos Martínez of the Indians hit a fly ball that Canseco lost in the lights as he ran over near the warning track. The ball hit him in the head and bounced over the wall for a home run. In 1998, This Week in Baseball rated Canseco's blunder as the greatest blooper of the show's first 21 years. After the incident, the Harrisburg Heat offered him a soccer contract.

Three days later, Canseco asked his manager, Kevin Kennedy, to let him pitch the eighth inning of a blowout loss to the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately, Canseco threw out his arm and had to undergo Tommy John surgery, and was lost for the remainder of the season.

Canseco's personal life also had its troubles, starting in the late 1980s. In 1989, his first wife, Esther Haddad, whom he married in November 1988, accused him of domestic violence after he allegedly ran his car into hers. Canseco divorced Haddad in 1991 and married Jessica Sekely in 1996. He was later arrested in November 1997 for allegedly hitting her. In January 1998 he was sentenced to probation and required to have counseling. The couple divorced in 1999. In October 2001, he and his brother Ozzie were involved a fight with two California tourists at a Miami Beach nightclub that left one man with a broken nose and another needing 20 stitches in his lip. Canseco was charged with two counts of aggravated battery for his role in the incident and was eventually sentenced to two years of house arrest.

Canseco fell off of the baseball radar for much of the mid-late 1990s, although did have a productive season again in 1998, in which he hit 46 home runs and stole 29 bases for the Toronto Blue Jays. Canseco received some criticism for selfishly attempting to steal too often, seeing as though his was caught stealing 17 times. Canseco then went to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, where he was having an excellent home run season in 1999 (34 in 114 games; and was voted an All-Star) until he injured his back and was lost for the season.





Canseco's career finally ended in 2001. By this point, Canseco was jealous of all of the attention being paid to former Bash Brother, Mark McGwire. He also felt bitter and claimed that he was being blackballed by major league baseball.

V. Canseco’s Tell-All Book and Steroid Admission

Canseco decided to get even with the sport that he felt had turned its back on him by exposing rampant steroid abused. In 2005, Canseco admitted to using anabolic steroids in a best-seller tell-all book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. Canseco also claimed that up to 85% of major league players took steroids, a figure disputed by many in the game. In the book, Canseco specifically identified former teammates Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Iván Rodríguez, and Juan González as fellow steroid users, and that he injected them. He further claimed that he, McGwire and Jason Giambi all crowded together naked in a bathroom stall at the Oakland Coliseum and shot each other up with steroids.

Juiced was an interesting book and led to a 2005 steroid hearing in front of the U.S. Congress, during which Canseco and several other professional baseball players were subpoenaed to testify under oath about steroid use in baseball. It was at this hearing that McGwire evaded the question of whether he had used steroids, substantially hurting his later chances for election into baseball's Hall of Fame.

In Juiced, Canseco wrote about the effect of drug abuse on his genitals in a couple paragraphs that were completely unnecessary. He wrote that rampant steroid use had shrunken his testicles, but that his abuse of Human Growth Hormone had counteracted the effects by making his penis grow larger.

VI. Falling on Hard Times

Canseco earned over $45 million during his major league career. However, he somehow managed to piss away his personal fortune and is desperate for money. He sold his 1988 AL MVP award plaque for $30,000 and his Rookie of the Year ring for $5,100 on eBay.

He was sentenced to two years of house arrest for his role in the 2001 nightclub brawl and in 2003 auctioned an afternoon with himself on eBay with bids starting at $2,500.

VII. Conclusion

Canseco is broke and bitter about how his baseball career turned out. He also claims that there was an anti-Cuban conspiracy against him to hold him down. I don't believe his allegations, as in the late-1980s he was the favorite player of many of the kids I knew. The media loved him and he even had a brief relationship with Madonna.

I think he should be commended for coming forward and exposing the use of performance enhancing drugs in baseball. That's apparently not good enough for Canseco, as he seems to want everyone associated with professional baseball to come forward and kiss his ass. The guy made a fortune during his career but blew through it quickly and will now do anything for a few bucks. He even stooped so low as to appear on the Surreal Life for $50,000 in 2005.

Canseco was undoubtedly the best player during the late 1980s and threw it all away to become a destitute laughingstock, all within the matter of a few years. Accordingly, there should be no doubt that Jose Canseco is one washed-up sports celebrity!


*** Update - May 1, 2008 ***

It was reported today that Jose Canseco lost his $2.5 million mansion in Encino, CA to foreclosure today. Canseco said that he owed more than what the mansion is worth and that it made financial sense for him to simply walk away from his home. It's simply amazing to me that someone who made more than $45 million from playing major league baseball blew through his vast fortune already. I guess that's why he's a washed-up sports celebrity!


*** Update - July 24, 2008 ***

Jose Canseco is so hard up for money that he has begun appearing in celebrity boxing matches. On July 12, 2008, Canseco stepped into the ring with Vai Sikahema, a former NFL running back/kicker. The 44-year old Canseco, at 6'4" tall, towered over the 5'9" tall Sikahema. Canseco must have thought that this would be an easy fight. Canseco, however, was terribly mistaken as he got his ass kicked and was knocked out a mere 97 seconds into the first round. When asked about Canseco's size advantage, Sikahema said, "Whatever size advantage he had it was negated by his stupidity."

Canseco apparently engaged in some trash talking before the match, making gestures towards Sikahema's corner prior to the fight in which he was slashing his finger across his throat. In Canseco's defense, Sikahema is an experienced amateur boxer with 80 fights under his belt.

Canseco received a mere $35,000 for his pummelling. Apparently there was little public interest in this fight, as there were only about 1,250 spectators in the 5,000 seat stadium in which the fight took place.

*** Update - July 24, 2010 ***

Jose Canseco participated in another boxing match in July 9, 2010. This time he faced Gary Hogan, the 60-year-old assistant athletic trainer for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Canseco received between $10,000 and $30,000 for his appearance.

Canseco went four rounds with Hogan and lost the bout 39-37 on the judges' scorecards. Canseco has received some criticism for his poor performance against the much older and out-of-shape Hogan. I saw a clip of the fight on youtube and it does appear as though Canseco threw the fight - it appeared as though he wasn't trying very hard.