October 1, 2024 • 10 mins
Broadcast legend Mike Gottfried reminisces about his friend Pete Rose 10-1-24
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome back Sports Talk nine ninety five Randy Kennedy in
the Threaded Fastener's studio. We've been talking about the passing
of Pete Rose, eighty three years old, one of the
greats in the history of Major League Baseball. One of
his friends is my friend Mike Gottfried and one of
the great college football announcers of all time and former
college football coach. He joined us. Now, Hey, Mike, great,
(00:26):
talk to you. How you doing, man?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
When it's good to be on with you?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Hey, where are you at these days? Where are you
at now?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I'm in North Carolina and we were in the hurricane.
Oh yeah, up here, and we were up here and
we lost power and water and everything. So we just
got it back this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Wow. That is such a terrible, terrible tragedy.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
So uh, it's it's unbelievable what's happened, and so just tough.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
So, Michael, I want to ask you, how did you
know Pete Rose?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Many men seventy five. I was an assistant coach at
the University of Cincinnati, and I was walking across the
football field by myself, and I saw a car, and
an expensive car pull up in the baseball field beside
our stadium, and so I saw about seven little guys
(01:28):
get out and ran out on the baseball field and
two adults one went to pitch one hit. So I
walked down there and I met Pete Rose and that
was the first time, and we became close friends. But
I asked him about five years after that. I said,
why when you were on strike and everybody left left
(01:53):
Cincinnati and they would come back when the strike was over,
I said, why we out there hit? He said I
had a thirty two game hitting streak, And he said
I had. I didn't know when we're going to start again,
so I had to be prepared. But that's the kind
of guy he was.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
What was the What was the nature of your friendship?
Why do you think you guys hit it all so
much to become friends.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
He liked football, and he came to the games, Cincinnati games.
He liked their coaching staff, and we became very close.
Traveled off to Las Vegas where where he was at,
and UH several times, and he signed baseballs for a
(02:44):
team focus and did some other things. But he was
a good man. And I heard Jim Graham on TV
last night, and he doesn't know anything about the guy,
and he said, very critical of me, and because he
(03:05):
was involved in that, the cheating and doing other things.
But Pete Rose was a really good man. Told me
a lot of stories about his father. He loved his father,
and his father was his this guy he grew up
(03:25):
to be like him. And his father would write him
a letter in the minor league all the time and
he'd say, don't ever give up, and you know, you
need to stay on this thing. And he said, I said, Pete,
what did that mean to you? He said, if I
(03:47):
got one hit, I wanted to get two hits. If
I got two hits, I wanted to get three hits.
If I got four hits, I wanted to give four
five hits. And he became the all time leader in
hits and five hits, four hits, three hits, two hits.
So he's he was a worker and he loved playing
(04:11):
and he loved baseball. And I think the Baseball group,
the commissioner has really done a poor job for twenty
five years. He's been ostracized by the American League and
not leaving him in the stadiums in the National League.
(04:34):
And he could have been a great advisor for him
when when you make a mistake, and everybody makes mistakes,
but he I remember one time of his outter and
he was sitting he said, you know, they think I'm
like a drug dealer. I'm worse than a drug dealer.
(04:54):
So he really hurting, and so I I don't know
whether they'll put him in. They should put him in.
Should have put him in before this, Mike.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
It's so interesting because I've been out there with you
to Las Vegas to see Pete Rose in it. It's
amazing that his second life after baseball in Las Vegas,
which as you know, like every week kind of turns
over and becomes a new city, and just the crowds
every single day that Pete Rose grew drew in Las
Vegas was just amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
It was. And you know when I sat there with
him and people would come up to him and then
say you should be in the Hall of Fame. And
he was good with the people. He was He talked baseball,
you know, he didn't just say here's baseball, and he
(05:50):
talked to him and he was an ambassador for baseball.
But they didn't use him, and they made a horrible mistake,
I think using him and not giving him a chance
giving him another chance. The whole thing is, yeah, people
get extra chances, and I'm painful that we do get
(06:13):
extra chances. But he Rose didn't get a chance.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Talking to Mike Godfrey, who, in my opinion, of the
greatest college football analyst of all time, in addition to
being a successful college football coach, close friends with Pete Rose,
who just passed away at the age of eighty three. Pete,
I know that, Mike. You know your profession being football,
but you're a big baseball guy too, right, It had
to be a pretty cool thing to be rubbing shoulders
(06:41):
with a guy like Pete Rose, who absolutely as famous
as anybody in the history of the game.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
He told so many stories and so many stories that
he told us, and you know, and I told him,
I said, Pete, you have the greatest memory. I was
out there and I was for a speech on in
Las Vegas in July, and Daring Dass went with me.
(07:11):
We were out there and I told him, I said, Pete,
you have the greatest memory. You can tell You can
tell stories about Sandy Kofax. The count was one on
one and you got to hit off of it. He
remembered everything. And then when I was with him in July,
I said, hey, Pete, you have the greatest memories and
(07:34):
my kids, it's slipping a little bit right now. So
he was, and he always he cared about it. He
cared about people, and he cared about baseball. And so
I don't take all those negative things that the Jim
Brace says or these guys. He deserved a second chance.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
So you just saw you sawing for the last time
just a couple of months ago. I guess we did.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Knew, and I knew when I walked away that would
probably be the last time.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
I hate to hear that. Mike. I remember not to
make this person. I remember you and I were out
in Las Vegas and it must have been about fifteen
years ago, and Pete Rose was there and he was
telling so many stories and that was remember that was
when Mike Tyson was doing his tour. He was going
around telling stories, and you know, we were thinking, if
people are paying to see Mike Tyson talk about his life,
(08:31):
imagine what Pete Rose tour of that kind could be
with all the big name celebrities.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
He knows, oh would have been. I mean, he was friendly.
Even Johnny Bench said he shouldn't be in all of fame.
Johnny Bench was wrong and he deserved by his ability
to be on the field in You know, he had
raved Fosseed that time he tried to win an All
(08:57):
Show gave me he was randy. What he told me
one time in the last time I was with him,
he said, I was on one year contracts for seventeen
years in baseball. That means means he didn't sign a
big contract. He had to make it every year, and
(09:20):
every year he did. When he did, he said I'm
gonna get two hundred hits, and he said I'm getting
on base score more runs. And he was a team
men and those since ninety players loved him.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Great stuff with Mike Gottfried, who's good friends with Pete Rose.
He just passed away at the age of eighty three. Yes,
so much of his life's obituary people talk about the
gambling situation that got him kicked out of baseball, but
Pete Rose one of the all time great players, all
time great players, and all time great storytellers as well.
Mike hated it for your lost man, I appreciate you
(09:59):
coming on and sharing some memories with us of Pete Rose.
Your good buddy.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Thanks frying me humge and good natives.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
There you go. Mike Godfrey also a very good man,
running a team Focus now that's his life's works doing
just awesome, awesome work there. And uh proud Mobilian now
as well. I'm Randy Kennedy. This is Sports Talk ninety
nine five.
Welcome back Sports Talk nine ninety five Randy Kennedy in
the Threaded Fastener's studio. We've been talking about the passing
of Pete Rose, eighty three years old, one of the
greats in the history of Major League Baseball. One of
his friends is my friend Mike Gottfried and one of
the great college football announcers of all time and former
college football coach. He joined us. Now, Hey, Mike, great,
(00:26):
talk to you. How you doing, man?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
When it's good to be on with you?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Hey, where are you at these days? Where are you
at now?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I'm in North Carolina and we were in the hurricane.
Oh yeah, up here, and we were up here and
we lost power and water and everything. So we just
got it back this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Wow. That is such a terrible, terrible tragedy.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
So uh, it's it's unbelievable what's happened, and so just tough.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
So, Michael, I want to ask you, how did you
know Pete Rose?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Many men seventy five. I was an assistant coach at
the University of Cincinnati, and I was walking across the
football field by myself, and I saw a car, and
an expensive car pull up in the baseball field beside
our stadium, and so I saw about seven little guys
(01:28):
get out and ran out on the baseball field and
two adults one went to pitch one hit. So I
walked down there and I met Pete Rose and that
was the first time, and we became close friends. But
I asked him about five years after that. I said,
why when you were on strike and everybody left left
(01:53):
Cincinnati and they would come back when the strike was over,
I said, why we out there hit? He said I
had a thirty two game hitting streak, And he said
I had. I didn't know when we're going to start again,
so I had to be prepared. But that's the kind
of guy he was.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
What was the What was the nature of your friendship?
Why do you think you guys hit it all so
much to become friends.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
He liked football, and he came to the games, Cincinnati games.
He liked their coaching staff, and we became very close.
Traveled off to Las Vegas where where he was at,
and UH several times, and he signed baseballs for a
(02:44):
team focus and did some other things. But he was
a good man. And I heard Jim Graham on TV
last night, and he doesn't know anything about the guy,
and he said, very critical of me, and because he
(03:05):
was involved in that, the cheating and doing other things.
But Pete Rose was a really good man. Told me
a lot of stories about his father. He loved his father,
and his father was his this guy he grew up
(03:25):
to be like him. And his father would write him
a letter in the minor league all the time and
he'd say, don't ever give up, and you know, you
need to stay on this thing. And he said, I said, Pete,
what did that mean to you? He said, if I
(03:47):
got one hit, I wanted to get two hits. If
I got two hits, I wanted to get three hits.
If I got four hits, I wanted to give four
five hits. And he became the all time leader in
hits and five hits, four hits, three hits, two hits.
So he's he was a worker and he loved playing
(04:11):
and he loved baseball. And I think the Baseball group,
the commissioner has really done a poor job for twenty
five years. He's been ostracized by the American League and
not leaving him in the stadiums in the National League.
(04:34):
And he could have been a great advisor for him
when when you make a mistake, and everybody makes mistakes,
but he I remember one time of his outter and
he was sitting he said, you know, they think I'm
like a drug dealer. I'm worse than a drug dealer.
(04:54):
So he really hurting, and so I I don't know
whether they'll put him in. They should put him in.
Should have put him in before this, Mike.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
It's so interesting because I've been out there with you
to Las Vegas to see Pete Rose in it. It's
amazing that his second life after baseball in Las Vegas,
which as you know, like every week kind of turns
over and becomes a new city, and just the crowds
every single day that Pete Rose grew drew in Las
Vegas was just amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
It was. And you know when I sat there with
him and people would come up to him and then
say you should be in the Hall of Fame. And
he was good with the people. He was He talked baseball,
you know, he didn't just say here's baseball, and he
(05:50):
talked to him and he was an ambassador for baseball.
But they didn't use him, and they made a horrible mistake,
I think using him and not giving him a chance
giving him another chance. The whole thing is, yeah, people
get extra chances, and I'm painful that we do get
(06:13):
extra chances. But he Rose didn't get a chance.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Talking to Mike Godfrey, who, in my opinion, of the
greatest college football analyst of all time, in addition to
being a successful college football coach, close friends with Pete Rose,
who just passed away at the age of eighty three. Pete,
I know that, Mike. You know your profession being football,
but you're a big baseball guy too, right, It had
to be a pretty cool thing to be rubbing shoulders
(06:41):
with a guy like Pete Rose, who absolutely as famous
as anybody in the history of the game.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
He told so many stories and so many stories that
he told us, and you know, and I told him,
I said, Pete, you have the greatest memory. I was
out there and I was for a speech on in
Las Vegas in July, and Daring Dass went with me.
(07:11):
We were out there and I told him, I said, Pete,
you have the greatest memory. You can tell You can
tell stories about Sandy Kofax. The count was one on
one and you got to hit off of it. He
remembered everything. And then when I was with him in July,
I said, hey, Pete, you have the greatest memories and
(07:34):
my kids, it's slipping a little bit right now. So
he was, and he always he cared about it. He
cared about people, and he cared about baseball. And so
I don't take all those negative things that the Jim
Brace says or these guys. He deserved a second chance.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
So you just saw you sawing for the last time
just a couple of months ago. I guess we did.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Knew, and I knew when I walked away that would
probably be the last time.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
I hate to hear that. Mike. I remember not to
make this person. I remember you and I were out
in Las Vegas and it must have been about fifteen
years ago, and Pete Rose was there and he was
telling so many stories and that was remember that was
when Mike Tyson was doing his tour. He was going
around telling stories, and you know, we were thinking, if
people are paying to see Mike Tyson talk about his life,
(08:31):
imagine what Pete Rose tour of that kind could be
with all the big name celebrities.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
He knows, oh would have been. I mean, he was friendly.
Even Johnny Bench said he shouldn't be in all of fame.
Johnny Bench was wrong and he deserved by his ability
to be on the field in You know, he had
raved Fosseed that time he tried to win an All
(08:57):
Show gave me he was randy. What he told me
one time in the last time I was with him,
he said, I was on one year contracts for seventeen
years in baseball. That means means he didn't sign a
big contract. He had to make it every year, and
(09:20):
every year he did. When he did, he said I'm
gonna get two hundred hits, and he said I'm getting
on base score more runs. And he was a team
men and those since ninety players loved him.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Great stuff with Mike Gottfried, who's good friends with Pete Rose.
He just passed away at the age of eighty three. Yes,
so much of his life's obituary people talk about the
gambling situation that got him kicked out of baseball, but
Pete Rose one of the all time great players, all
time great players, and all time great storytellers as well.
Mike hated it for your lost man, I appreciate you
(09:59):
coming on and sharing some memories with us of Pete Rose.
Your good buddy.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Thanks frying me humge and good natives.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
There you go. Mike Godfrey also a very good man,
running a team Focus now that's his life's works doing
just awesome, awesome work there. And uh proud Mobilian now
as well. I'm Randy Kennedy. This is Sports Talk ninety
nine five.
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