| | |  | | Rose hits No. 4,192 to pass Ty Cobb. |
Cincinnati Reds player-manager Pete Rose, the 44-year-old man who still plays baseball with the joy of a boy, lines a single to left-center in the first inning off San Diego's Eric Show for his 4,192nd hit, breaking Ty Cobb's 57-year-old major league record for career hits.
His teammates mob the 23-year veteran and owner Marge Schott presents him with a red Corvette, driven in from behind the outfield fence. While the sellout crowd of 47,237 at Riverfront Stadium enthusiastically cheers, Rose weeps as he waves to the fans and lays his head on first-base coach Tommy Helms' shoulder.
Then from the dugout comes another No. 14 with the same name on his back. It's 15-year-old Petey Rose Jr. He falls into his father's arms at first base and the two embrace with tears in their eyes.
Rose triples for hit No. 4,193 later in the game. When he retires after the 1986 season, his total will be 4,256.
Or was it? Recent research holds that Cobb's total should be reduced by two to 4189 hits. The mistake was traced to the 1910 season when Cobb had two hits in a game but somehow score sheets were entered twice, on Sept. 24 and again on Sept. 25. Total Baseball lists Cobb's hit total at 4189.
ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic will air the historic game on Monday, September 11 at 9 p.m. ET.
By the numbers
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Ty Cobb and Pete Rose
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Category
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Cobb
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Rose
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Nickname
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Georgia Peach
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Charlie Hustle
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Hits
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No. 2 with 4,191
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No. 1 with 4,256
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Games played
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No. 4 with 3,035
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No. 1 with 3,562
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Batting Titles
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12
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3
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Hits titles
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Led AL in hits 8 times
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Led NL in hits 7 times
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Doubles
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No. 4 with 724
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No. 2 with 746
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At Bats
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No. 4 with 11,434
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No. 1 with 14,053
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Years played
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24
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24
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4,000th hit
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Double
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Double
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Hit 4,000 playing for
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Philadelphia Athletics
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Montreal Expos
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Gambling charges
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Cleared by commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis
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Banned by commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti
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Hall of Fame
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First class in 1936 (named on 222 of 226 ballots)
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not eligible
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All Century Team
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Member
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Member
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Famous collision
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Spike slide on Frank Baker of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1909.
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Slamming into Oakland A's catcher Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game
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Quotes on style
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"Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blooded men. It's no pink-tea and molleycoddles had better stay out. It's a struggle for supremacy, survival of the fittest." - Cobb
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"I don't just give 100 percent because some guy opposite me might be giving that much. If you have a guy equal in ability to me, I'm gonna beat him, because I try harder. That guy ain't got no chance." -- Rose
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