Word: game
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Best of the bunch is Pete Rose, 26, a brassy, bristle-topped Irishman, whose flip tongue and frenetic brand of baseball have injected fresh breath into an increasingly stale game. His zest once branded him a showoff. "In the minors, they called me 'Hot Dog' and 'Hollywood,' " he snorts, "but they don't holler at me in the majors." They certainly don't. Spraying hits from either side of the plate, Rightfielder Rose has batted better than .300 in each of the past three seasons. This year, with a .327 average, he is fighting...
Much of Rose's atavistic attitude comes indirectly from the old St. Louis Gas House Gang. "I once saw a Reds-Cards game," he says, "where Enos Slaughter drew a walk and ran hard to first base. I decided right then that that was what I was going to do as long as I played ball." A more immediate propellant was Pete Sr., a semipro football player with the old Cincinnati Bengals, who taught his son to switch...
...stretching 4 in. and putting on 50 lbs., all of it muscle. In 1961, he swatted .331 at Tampa, and .330 at Macon, Ga., the following year. Still unimpressed, Cincinnati invited Pete to their spring-training camp in 1963 almost as an afterthought. He insinuated himself into an exhibition game, started slamming doubles all over Florida, and won the enmity of the Reds' regulars by taking a starting berth away from veteran Second Baseman Don Blasingame...
...There has been no enmity since. Rose hit .273 that season, covered second like a seasoned pro, was named Rookie of the Year. He later handled third base and left field, lashed 899 hits in five seasons to establish himself as one of the most dangerous hitters in the game, hiked his salary to $57,000 after a spring holdout. That is not nearly enough. "I'm going to be the first player who is not a 20-game winner or a home-run hitter to make $100,000 a year," he insists...
...weeks last season when he banged up his shoulder diving for a sinking line drive. This year he ripped his hand open on the Crosley Field fence on the second day of the season. Next day, bandage and all, he collected two hits to launch a 22-game hitting streak...