Reds honor Pete Rose with statue of his iconic headfirst slide
Channel: Make Money Online
Date: 2017-06-18

Reds honor Pete Rose with statue of his iconic headfirst slide

Pete Rose's all-out approach to baseball, which earned him the nickname "Charlie Hustle," may be best personified by his headfirst slide into bases.

Now, Rose's iconic slide will live on as a larger-than-life sculpture outside Great American Ball Park.

The 76-year-old Rose was on hand, along with several of his former teammates from Cincinnati's Big Red Machine glory days, for the statue's unveiling before Saturday's game against the Dodgers.  
Rose is the eighth Reds legend honored with a sculpture outside the park. Former teammates Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez, who also have sculptures there, attended Rose's ceremony.


"It's just an honor to be on the same block with these guys," Rose said (via ESPN). "This has to be the ultimate goal for any player of his or her sport."

Rose collected an MLB-record 4,256 hits during his 24-year career from 1963-1986, but he's ineligible for Cooperstown because he bet on baseball games while he was the Reds' manager in the 1980s. But the Reds have received MLB's permission to honor Rose. Last year, they inducted him into the team's hall of fame and retired his No. 14 jersey.

Saturday it was the statue.

Oh, about that headfirst slide, Rose had an interesting explanation for why he slid that way.

"I think you'd have to agree that I was kind of known for being aggressive, and part of being aggressive is sliding headfirst," Rose said. "And you always get your picture in the paper."