Word: pete
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...born with the talent to swing a bat, of course; no way could he have ever compiled 4,256 hits, the all-time career record, without it. But it was not his inborn gift that made Pete Rose the symbol of what Americans consider a vital part of the national ethos. He was Charlie Hustle, the man who ran out even his bases on balls, who played with a boyish exuberance and devil-may- care abandon characterized by the belly-flop, headfirst slides that kept his uniform constantly dirty. He soared far beyond athletes who had vastly more natural grace...
This sentiment, of course, is strongest in Cincinnati, where Rose is still a sort of god (Riverfront Stadium, where the Reds play, stands on Pete Rose Way). But those opinions can be heard all over the country. In a TIME/CNN poll taken last week by Yankelovich Clancy Shulman, only 30% of the 504 people questioned thought Rose should be suspended from baseball for life if the accusations are correct; 40% said he should be suspended for only one year; and 20% were against any suspension...
...which makes the Pete Rose story more than a gossipy tale about the downfall of an idol. Whether or not he bet on baseball, the last thing America's growing legion of gamblers needs is an example of an admitted heavy bettor blithely denying he has done anything wrong and actually commanding the sympathy of people who continue to worship him. The lure of excessive gambling is too great, even without an exemplar of Rose's stature. Painful as it may be for the millions who admired him as a ballplayer, he should be punished as severely as an objective...
...excruciating saga of Pete Rose and gambling seemed to be coming to a shuddering finish last week. A common-pleas judge in Cincinnati was pondering whether to issue a temporary restraining order -- and perhaps turn the Rose investigation over to the courts -- or leave Rose to face Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti and the music early this week. After four months of husky whispers, the worst charges imagined were spoken aloud at last. Giamatti's special investigator, John Dowd, asserted in court that he has found nine witnesses and enough corroborating evidence to prove that Rose committed baseball's capital...
SPORT: The Pete Rose saga moves toward a finale...