25 Years ago today, Pete Rose's 4192

Today the talk here in my hometown is the Buckeyes taking on the U of Miami. I can’t help but think of how great it would be to be present at Great American Ball Park tonight to honor Pete Rose.

Here’s a few reads to wet your appetite for the event. They’re relevant.

Rob Neyer says that Pete Roses’ hit streak will never be broken
Twenty-five years ago Saturday, Pete Rose collected his 4,192nd hit, supposedly breaking Ty Cobb’s all-time record (today’s best information suggests that Cobb actually finished his career with 4,189 hits). Since then, nobody’s approached 4,000 hits, let alone Rose’s career-ending total (4,256). Will someone, someday? To answer that question, it’s instructive to list the qualities that allowed Rose to reach those lofty marks. It took, among other things, a great deal of skill, a great deal of luck, and a great deal of … well, of whatever made Pete Rose Pete Rose.

ESPN does a story of the man who gave up the record breaking hit, Eric Show
“He was a guy you had to keep pumping up,” former Padres infielder Tim Flannery said. “If a line drive was hit right at somebody, he’d be bumming. We’d have to go, ‘Hey, it’s an out. Come on!'” Other teammates weren’t as gentle, namely the closer Gossage, who came over from the Yankees before the 1984 season. Gossage was right away lord of the Padres pitchers and made an early attempt to bring Eric into his flock. “We would talk about baseball,” Gossage says, “and he would start to get real heavy. I’d say, ‘Wait a minute, Eric, we’re better off keeping it as simple as it is. In baseball, a lot of things are out of your control. Like errors. A ball barely falling in.’ “But there was no reasoning with Eric. He’d just say, ‘Uh, I don’t want to talk about it.’ Or, ‘No, that ball should’ve been caught.’ You’d shake your head. Pretty soon, I didn’t even talk to him.”