Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy remembers Pete Rose for one detail above all others
When it comes to baseball’s cherished and celebrated moments the pitcher is always remembered whereas the catcher is typically forgotten.
On the night Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb’s record for the most hits in Major League Baseball history, the man who threw him the memorable pitch was San Diego Padres pitcher Eric Show. The catcher was current Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy.
Bochy’s big league career spanned from 1978 to 1987. He spent the entire time in the National League, which meant he faced Rose’s Reds, Phillies, Expos and Reds again plenty of times. Bochy was behind the plate in Cincinnati on Sept. 11, 1985 when Rose hit Show’s first inning pitch into left center for career hit No. 4,192.
On Tuesday morning at Globe Life Mall in Arlington, Bochy and Rangers GM Chris Young met with the media to discuss the Rangers season that just ended. Bochy was asked about Rose, who died on Monday in Nevada at the age of 83.
Rather than lament the man’s complicated, and often sad legacy, Bochy focused on the parts that he admired.
“I grew up a Reds fan. My dad was a big Reds fan. So I go back to his early years, back when Frank Robinson was on the club, Vada Pinson. Those guys, up to Johnny Bench and The Big Red Machine,” Bochy said of Rose’s career that began in Cincinnati in 1963. “Huge Cincinnati Reds fan, and Pete Rose fan.”
That made Bochy no different than a lot of Americans. With consecutive World Series titles in the mid ‘70s, the Reds were the most popular team in baseball during that decade. The team featured a lineup that included Bench, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, George Foster, Ken Griffey, Rose, Davey Concepcion, among others.
“I had times when I was able to talk to (Rose) about those days. I was fortunate enough to be catching when he broke the all-time hits record. That was quite a night there in Cincinnati,” Bochy said.
Rose finished 2-for-3 that night with two runs scored in a 2-0 Reds’ win. Bochy was 1-for-3. For all of those who watched Rose collect that hit, and stand at first base while he was showered with a 10-minute standing ovation from a crowd that loved him in ways they could not express, it ranks among the most memorable moments of baseball’s modern era.
“Two-one pitch from Show ... into left center. There it is! That’s number four-thousand-one hundred-and ninety two!” the TV announcer said when Rose collected that single at Riverfront Stadium.
Even if you hated Pete Rose, you had to admire the history. Admire what it took to break that record.
Much as Neil Armstrong landing on the moon felt impossible, so too did a person ever catching a record that Cobb had held since he finished playing, in 1928. It was one of those moments that stitches generations together, and gives baseball a place in America’s history that it enjoys more than any other sport.
Despite the man’s many flaws, which in the coming years would be exposed and permanently sully a brilliant career, there was something about the way he played that people adored. Including Bochy.
“His legacy, if you look at Pete Rose, it’s how he played the game,” Bochy said of a player who during his time in the minors started to make a name for himself by sprinting to first base after he collected a walk. “He was called ‘Charlie Hustle,’ that’s why he was so loved, with the passion he played with. It’s unlike almost any player you’ve ever seen.
“This guy never let up. How he went out and played and how he hustled. He played all over the field. World Championships. That’s, to me, is his legacy is how hard he played.”
For so many, it’s how he will be remembered, too.
This story was originally published October 1, 2024 at 1:23 PM.
