Mini-series - 4 episodes
Watch the trailer
Directed by: Mark Monroe
Starring: Pete Rose, Marty Brennaman, Ken Griffey Sr., Reggie Jackson
Rated: TV-14
Plot
Baseball legend Pete Rose's career, rise to fame, scandals, and bid for reinstatement are chronicled through archival footage and interviews exploring his contradictory persona as a tenacious hustler and a fallen icon tainted by gambling.
Verdict
This seems like a documentary meant to bolster Rose's bid for reinstatement. Was Rose a great ball player? No doubt. Did he accept a lifetime ban? Yes. While he asserts his understanding was the ban was temporary, the very name of the ban undermines that. It really seems like the reaction of someone who never had to be accountable due to talent. Rose has never been contrite or honest. Everything is always someone else's fault. We'll never unravel the truth. Every move he makes seems to be self serving, much like this documentary, designed to garner him attention or money. Rose's obsession with getting back into baseball seems to be rooted in a need for attention and praise. This ban has given him more recognition than he ever would have gotten otherwise. This continued crusade only fulfills his desires for more attention.
It depends.
Review
Pete Rose played for the Cincinnati Reds from 1963 to 1978 before signing with the Phillies and was later traded back to the Reds in 1984 from the Expos where he finished his twenty-four year career as a player-manager. His most notable distinction, other than a lifetime ban for gambling, is being all-time hits leader in Major League Baseball. Rose accepted a ban for life in 1989 for gambling, though he denied ever betting on baseball. Fifteen years later he admitted to betting on baseball, timing the announcement with the release of his 2004 book, My Prison Without Bars. He was adamant he never bet against his team, though while he stated he bet on the Reds every night, that's simply not true.
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| Pete Rose |
"It's always someone else's fault." sums up Rose very well. This crusade to get back into baseball has to be ego. Rose agreed to the ban. He's been trying to undo that since it happened. He was adamant for years he never bet on baseball, until he admitted he did. He's been complaining about the terms to which he agreed ever since. At the onset this seems like a Pete Rose apology tour. With "Hit King" emblazoned on nearly every shirt he wears, it seems he just wants acclaim. He needs to have something to prove as a means to remain relevant and wants everyone to know. He has to like the ban in part. It gives him something to fight against, providing him a means to tour around the country and argue his case. Because of the ban, he's remained relevant far longer than he would have otherwise.
There's a fair amount of time devoted to the 70s Reds. The team was huge, and Rose was a big part of that. According to this series, he was the Babe Ruth of Cincinnati. One of the most interesting parts of this is Tommy Gioiosa. He was a baseball player and close friend of Rose. Tommy's allegations that Rose got into selling drugs are dismissed by Rose, but the funny thing is Tommy's allegations all came after he went to jail. He didn't sell Rose out to suspend his sentence.
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| Pete Rose |
This feels like a Pete Rose commercial. Rose wants all of the fame and benefits, but none of the responsibility. How can he state he thought the ban would be for a year when he agreed to a lifetime ban? No one banned from baseball has ever been reinstated. I guess it's Rose's ego that he assumed he would be the first. He accepted a ban thinking he could get around it. He lied about betting on baseball thinking that lie would allow him back in. He admitted he bet on baseball hoping that would look like contrition and he could get back in. Rose doesn't look great in this documentary, and most of that is what we hear from Rose directly. This catches him in a few lies, but it also doesn't draw any conclusions. It's clear not being in the Hall of Fame has made Rose more famous. It's given him something to fight about, and the fight keeps him in the news. I really wonder if Rose would give up decades of being famous and banned from the Hall of Fame for being in and largely ignored. Despite what he would say, it's clear he needs to feed his ego.
The murkiness of Rose's ban now is how baseball embraces gambling. Gambling companies are a huge sponsor, but the sport does ban any illegal betting and any betting on baseball of any sort. MLB banned a player and sanctioned for others this year. Rose's argument ignores anything he doesn't like and could be summed up as, 'but I'm the hit king Pete Rose.'
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