Pete Rose: An American Dilemma

Author: Kostya Kennedy

Edition: No Additional Printings Listed

Features:

• Sports Illustrated Books

Number Of Pages: 352

Details:

"Kennedy's book on the tarnished and enigmatic Rose is exceptional. Like the best writing about sport--Liebling, Angell--it qualifies as stirring literature. I'd read Kennedy no matter what he writes about." --Richard Ford Pete Rose played baseball with a singular and headfirst abandon that endeared him to fans and peers, even as it riled others--a figure at once magnetic, beloved and polarizing. Rose has more base hits than anyone in history, yet he is not in the Hall of Fame. Twenty-five years ago he was banished from baseball for gambling, then ruled ineligible for Cooperstown; today, the question "Does Pete Rose belong in the Hall of Fame?" has evolved into perhaps the most provocative in sports, a layered, slippery and ever-relevant moral conundrum. How do we evaluate the Hit King now, at a time when steroid cheats appear on the Hall of Fame ballot even as Rose is denied? What do we make of this happily unrepentant gambler, this shameless but beguiling showman whose postbaseball journey has led him to a curious reality show and to the streets of Cooperstown to hawk his signature, his story, himself? Best-selling author Kostya Kennedy delivers an evocative answer in his fascinating re-examination of Pete Rose's life; from his cocky and charismatic early years through his storied playing career to his bitter war against baseball's hierarchy to the man we find today--still incorrigible, still adored by many. Where has his improbable saga landed him in the redefined, post-steroid world? Do we feel any differently about Pete Rose today? Should we? From Booklist *Starred Review* Pete Rose hit the baseball safely 4,256 times in his major league career, more than any other man who played the game. But Rose is not in the baseball Hall of Fame. He was accused of betting on baseball and in 1989 agreed to banishment from the game. In 1991, the Hall of Fame formally agreed that anyone banned from baseball was also ineligible for the Hall. After years of maintaining his innocence, Rose finally admitted he’d bet on games while the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Now he’s a sideshow at the annual HOF induction ceremony every year, selling autographs and, essentially, himself. Sports Illustrated editor Kennedy delves deeply into Rose’s life and the factors that contributed to his competitiveness and on-field success. He also looks into Rose’s personal life and continuing charisma, noting that gambling was always part of Rose’s life; he was a regular at horse tracks and never tried to hide his constant action on football and basketball. Kennedy isn’t campaigning for Rose’s induction into the Hall of Fame, but he does suggest that, in the post–performance enhancing drug era, perhaps the Rose situation should be reopened for discussion. This is a wonderful biography as well as a thoughtful examination of a moral quandary. --Wes Lukowsky

Reviews:

"Even readers who know who Mr. Rose is will learn much from...this book's stacked roster of interviews and anecdotes [and] fascinating and well-chosen tangents....Kennedy covers the [Big Red Machine] period expertly." --Craig Fehrman, The Wall Street Journal

"Will absorb you immediately...a fascinating study of one of America's most enduringly fascinating athletes. Masterful." --Mike Vaccaro, New York Post

"An exceptionally well-written book that lays out both sides of what remains a highly-charged issue." --Paul Hagen, MLB.com

"Kennedy takes that familiar story and delves deeper, presenting an artful portrait....With writing of such quality and a subject of such complexity, it deserves to be read by anyone who appreciates good biography." -- John C. Williams, BookPage

"Kennedy's book on the tarnished and enigmatic Rose is exceptional. Like the best writing about sport--Liebling, Angell--it qualifies as stirring literature. I'd read Kennedy no matter what he writes about." --Richard Ford

"Kostya Kennedy has given us the real Pete Ro

UPC: 884540238570...

EAN: 0884540238570

Release Date: 11-03-2014

Languages: English

Item Condition: New

Binding: Hardcover