October 1, 2024 • 11 mins
Executive Director of the Reds Hall of Fame & Museum Rick Walls joins the show to share memories about Pete Rose.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On the official home of the Bengals, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Your Bengals News. Other Day, the Bengals to No. One's
surprise release Brad Robins because Ryan Rico has been awesome.
On the day after we found out that Pete Rose
passed away, I thought it was appropriate to get on
with as someone who certainly has a great perspective on
not only Pete's career but what he meant to the
Reds organization, the executive director of the Reds Hall of
(00:29):
Fame m museum, and somebody who has spent a lot
of time with Pete and his teammates, our friend Rick Walls.
Ricket's good to have you. Good afternoon, How are you.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I'm doing well, Mo, considering right, tough loss for Reds Nation.
Talking to a lot of the fans. They're out here
at the ballpark, coming down the Hall of Fame, pay
tribute to Pete. It's been a tough day or two
for them now.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Twenty sixteen Pete Rose Weekend, the club dedicates a statue,
his jersey number gets retired, and he enters the Reds
Hall of Fame. What was that weekend like for you?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
It was spectacular, and I know it was for him
and his family. I remember it like it was yesterday,
and I remember all of the events leading up to
us being able to have that induction ceremony and Pete
being brought back for reunions and activities, and then kind
of building this weight where Commissioner Manford said, I really
(01:24):
don't care if he's honored locally, and teams should be
able to do that. And the Ritz Hall of Fame
Museum elected, you know, Pete to the Hall of Fame
and it was a special weekend, and of course his
number was retired in a statue a year later, and
you know, we got to know Pete pretty well for
that entire process, thinking of these reunions with their teammates.
(01:45):
That induction in sixteen, In fact, we brought back many
of his teammates. It was the fortieth anniversary of the
seventy six championship that year, so we brought back all
the players that could come back. And then the statue
of the following year, you got to see how much
Pete really loved base ball and love the Reds and
the fans.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yeah, I think when I think back to specifically his
Hall of Fame induction. You know, he's somebody who's going
to tell you how he feels. And listening to him
talk about what that honor meant to him was great
and I think deeply authentic as.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Well when I recall him talking about behind the scenes
and on stage, because he ran his script by a
few of us, Hey I'm going to say this, what
do you think? And he really meant it about the
Indian pie side of guy you would think would write
down all his comments and thoughts, right, He wouldn't think that,
But he thought this one through like Joe Morgan did too.
(02:41):
I remember Joe doing a similar thing, talking about how
this honor was just as important as any other honor
he'd received. He wanted that red jacket to go in
the Hall of Fame because all of his teammate said
kids him about and how come you don't have a
red jacket. And he finally got that red jacket at
the induction gala, and it was a special day, special night,
and he was I think he was sincere by saying that,
(03:03):
you know, it may or may not give future honors,
but these because they're from my hometown and my hometown team,
and I mean a lot to me, and I believe
he meant that.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
What was also always kind of striking to me about
Pete maybe over the last ten fifteen years, he would
come to games, right, he'd come to games invariably, if
he was at the ballpark, they'd show him on the
video board, he would point to the wishbone sea on
his hat. Or if he would would give an interview,
you know, you were you were setting him up to
(03:35):
give you something good if he asked him about the
state of the current rets, no matter if they were
playing well, playing poorly, in the middle of a rebuild,
set to try to go win the pennant, whatever it was.
I was, I was always struck. Look, you're around a
lot of these guys. Some of them paid less attention
than others. Some of them, you know, might kind of
be done with baseball. Some might pay attention, but not
(03:57):
very close. Pete, you know, well, it might be a
stretch to say he lived and died with every single pitch,
but he paid attention, paid attention closely, and always had
an opinion or a thought on whatever was going on
with the club at whatever point you might be talking
to him or listening to him.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I agree, I don't think there's too many. I don't
know of any other player that was that much into
wanting to see the team do well to improve. Could
he analyze the game, you know, the moves that were made,
the players, the mistakes and the swings. He would come
in here and talk about the game from the week before,
the night before, almost like he could remember games that
he played in, because you could ask him about any
(04:33):
game and he would probably remember what happened. I went
three for three that game, and I remember who was pitching,
what the weather was like. But he stayed up on
this team, So you're right. When he came to ballpark,
you know, he engaged with the fans and they wanted
to know how he was doing and how the team
was doing. And he always had an opinion, and usually
it was a pretty good opinion. I mean, he knew
what was going on. He paid attention, and I think
that was something that you're right. People don't do that.
(04:55):
So he's like a walking Reds logo. He was around
allways being a really a supporter, almost like the brand
of the team as a very you know, up Cincinnati
represented the town as much as he did the team.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah, you know, I wrote down the word recall and
you you referenced it. That's always been I think a
neat thing about talking with specifically former athletes. I did
this with George Foster once. I brought up a grand
Slam he had off Tom Nienfior, and he gave me
the runners who were on base and what the count was.
With Pete, You're right, man. You could you could bring
(05:29):
up the name of a picture from You could say, well,
Bob Nepper of the Astros, and he would say, well, yeah,
you know, I faced him in the Astrodome on this
day in July and he threw me a change up
on the inside part of the plate and I hit
it into right field and two guys scored and we
took the lead, and it was and you know, you
could you could maybe go look that up and if
you did, you would see he was right. I've never
been around anybody understanding these guys oftentimes have great recall
(05:52):
for things they were involved in. I've never been anybody
who had that gift the way Pete did.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
You know, maybe not being permitted to be involved in
baseball directly and being part of the game really forced
him to dig deep into his history. In his past
to live in that world over and over again and
then understand it because that became him. And as he
went out and did his speeches and went on tour
(06:19):
and signed autographs, he had a great routine. And sometimes
it's a routine. And but if you sat down with
him and did a Q and A, and his routine
was good. By the way, you could hear it over
and over again, everybody laughing and talking about Pete and
he'd be telling stories and you might have heard it
ten times, but it's still just as good as the
tenth time. But he would get into Q and A.
(06:39):
And if you would bring up a question. I've heard
like Marty talk to him and different of his teammates
because they'll put him down on a few things, and
you're right, he recalls it and he's got some great insight.
And think about the history that he's been involved with
with players of his age, even afterwards, making phone calls
(07:00):
to them suggestions on you know, improving their game. Uh,
the guy could have been a great asset to baseball.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, you know, I I think of and I'm too
young to have experienced this firsthand, but I said before
that if you were to if you were to go
back into the mid seventies or late seventies, and and
and sort of. I don't know gauge who the most
famous people in the United States of America were. Pete
(07:28):
Rose was on that list. You know this this There
are a lot of great players in that ear. I'm
not sure there was anybody. There were many, there were
some many who busted through from a cultural perspective the
way Pete did. Can you speak to that for me?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
And I agree with that. I mean, I think locally,
you know, Johnny was national since uh you know, Pete
was local in nature from Cincinnati, but then he branched
down and was the national spokesperson did commercials. People knew
who he was because he had that You know how
we talk about players like Ellie with a electric personalities
(08:01):
and he's just electric electric player, right Pete Pete was.
I wouldn't say electric, but he he certainly could electrify
or at least galvanize the team and gets you fired up.
You certainly didn't want to play against him. Nobody wanted
to play against Pete. You wanted him on your team.
You might not have enjoyed the way that he went
after the game because he just kept coming at you.
(08:22):
And I don't think people always wanted to play one
hundred percent, but Pete certainly did. A special player played
like you want to play, like I think i'd play.
You know. I think we all though we can all
be major leaguers, but he wanted to be one, and
he became one.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, the news is fresh, and so you're probably not
equipped to answer this question, but i'll throw it at you. Nonetheless,
the twenty twenty four season just ended. Organizationally, I'm sure
things are going to be done as the twenty twenty
five season inches closer to commemorate the passing of Peace Rose.
(09:00):
From the Hall of Fame's perspective, I'm sure you've thought
about what you may do, and my guess is you have.
You don't have said in stone what you're going to do,
but I would imagine those discussions have already started.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Well, it's kind of ironic, you know. Next year's the
fiftieth anniversary of the seventy five World Championship, and I
think we had big plans the museum to celebrate and
honor and bring back players and have a reunion. And
that's going to happen, of course, and it'll take on
a new flavor next year with the passing of Pete.
(09:37):
I know, when they lose a player from that group,
I think it takes a piece of all of them
with them, meaning his teammates. They're so close, so tight,
and happened with Chill Morgan, have the sparky Anderson before that,
and anybody on that team. I think there's a closeness
to them. And I can just tell you that, you know,
we have certainly thought about what we're going to do.
(09:58):
It hasn't been a deep dive at all yet, but
it's about doing the right thing at the appropriate time,
working with his family and making sure that you know,
Pete is recognized honor the way everybody would like that
to be. And I think that's the key. You know,
we always do those things right, from reunions to inductions
to statues. It ends up being about them, and we
(10:20):
want to make sure we do this one right. So
there'll be something at some point. And can't tell you
exactly when, because I don't know. It's really just a
matter of everybody getting together to get this thing going.
I think, like you said, it's quick, it's fresh, it's
you know, yesterday, I think seven fifteen is the time
I heard. I'll remember that phone call and just trying
to verify if it was right or not because I
(10:42):
knew he was just active the day before and doing
an event in Nashville, and then he flew back to Vegas.
So you know.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Whatever is done, it'll be done in good taste and
it'll be worth everybody's time. I appreciate you jumping on.
We'll talk soon under more celebratory circumstances.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Rick, thanks so much, Absolutely, thanks both. Take care all right.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Twenty seven away from five o'clock, Rick Walls, executive director
of the Red's Hall of Fame n Museum, where at
Buffalo Wild Wings, cold Rain step away laid for a break,
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
You've been listening to football in Theinnetti on the official
home of the Bengals, Cincinnatis, ESPN fifteen thirty
On the official home of the Bengals, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Your Bengals News. Other Day, the Bengals to No. One's
surprise release Brad Robins because Ryan Rico has been awesome.
On the day after we found out that Pete Rose
passed away, I thought it was appropriate to get on
with as someone who certainly has a great perspective on
not only Pete's career but what he meant to the
Reds organization, the executive director of the Reds Hall of
(00:29):
Fame m museum, and somebody who has spent a lot
of time with Pete and his teammates, our friend Rick Walls.
Ricket's good to have you. Good afternoon, How are you.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I'm doing well, Mo, considering right, tough loss for Reds Nation.
Talking to a lot of the fans. They're out here
at the ballpark, coming down the Hall of Fame, pay
tribute to Pete. It's been a tough day or two
for them now.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Twenty sixteen Pete Rose Weekend, the club dedicates a statue,
his jersey number gets retired, and he enters the Reds
Hall of Fame. What was that weekend like for you?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
It was spectacular, and I know it was for him
and his family. I remember it like it was yesterday,
and I remember all of the events leading up to
us being able to have that induction ceremony and Pete
being brought back for reunions and activities, and then kind
of building this weight where Commissioner Manford said, I really
(01:24):
don't care if he's honored locally, and teams should be
able to do that. And the Ritz Hall of Fame
Museum elected, you know, Pete to the Hall of Fame
and it was a special weekend, and of course his
number was retired in a statue a year later, and
you know, we got to know Pete pretty well for
that entire process, thinking of these reunions with their teammates.
(01:45):
That induction in sixteen, In fact, we brought back many
of his teammates. It was the fortieth anniversary of the
seventy six championship that year, so we brought back all
the players that could come back. And then the statue
of the following year, you got to see how much
Pete really loved base ball and love the Reds and
the fans.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yeah, I think when I think back to specifically his
Hall of Fame induction. You know, he's somebody who's going
to tell you how he feels. And listening to him
talk about what that honor meant to him was great
and I think deeply authentic as.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Well when I recall him talking about behind the scenes
and on stage, because he ran his script by a
few of us, Hey I'm going to say this, what
do you think? And he really meant it about the
Indian pie side of guy you would think would write
down all his comments and thoughts, right, He wouldn't think that,
But he thought this one through like Joe Morgan did too.
(02:41):
I remember Joe doing a similar thing, talking about how
this honor was just as important as any other honor
he'd received. He wanted that red jacket to go in
the Hall of Fame because all of his teammate said
kids him about and how come you don't have a
red jacket. And he finally got that red jacket at
the induction gala, and it was a special day, special night,
and he was I think he was sincere by saying that,
(03:03):
you know, it may or may not give future honors,
but these because they're from my hometown and my hometown team,
and I mean a lot to me, and I believe
he meant that.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
What was also always kind of striking to me about
Pete maybe over the last ten fifteen years, he would
come to games, right, he'd come to games invariably, if
he was at the ballpark, they'd show him on the
video board, he would point to the wishbone sea on
his hat. Or if he would would give an interview,
you know, you were you were setting him up to
(03:35):
give you something good if he asked him about the
state of the current rets, no matter if they were
playing well, playing poorly, in the middle of a rebuild,
set to try to go win the pennant, whatever it was.
I was, I was always struck. Look, you're around a
lot of these guys. Some of them paid less attention
than others. Some of them, you know, might kind of
be done with baseball. Some might pay attention, but not
(03:57):
very close. Pete, you know, well, it might be a
stretch to say he lived and died with every single pitch,
but he paid attention, paid attention closely, and always had
an opinion or a thought on whatever was going on
with the club at whatever point you might be talking
to him or listening to him.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I agree, I don't think there's too many. I don't
know of any other player that was that much into
wanting to see the team do well to improve. Could
he analyze the game, you know, the moves that were made,
the players, the mistakes and the swings. He would come
in here and talk about the game from the week before,
the night before, almost like he could remember games that
he played in, because you could ask him about any
(04:33):
game and he would probably remember what happened. I went
three for three that game, and I remember who was pitching,
what the weather was like. But he stayed up on
this team, So you're right. When he came to ballpark,
you know, he engaged with the fans and they wanted
to know how he was doing and how the team
was doing. And he always had an opinion, and usually
it was a pretty good opinion. I mean, he knew
what was going on. He paid attention, and I think
that was something that you're right. People don't do that.
(04:55):
So he's like a walking Reds logo. He was around
allways being a really a supporter, almost like the brand
of the team as a very you know, up Cincinnati
represented the town as much as he did the team.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah, you know, I wrote down the word recall and
you you referenced it. That's always been I think a
neat thing about talking with specifically former athletes. I did
this with George Foster once. I brought up a grand
Slam he had off Tom Nienfior, and he gave me
the runners who were on base and what the count was.
With Pete, You're right, man. You could you could bring
(05:29):
up the name of a picture from You could say, well,
Bob Nepper of the Astros, and he would say, well, yeah,
you know, I faced him in the Astrodome on this
day in July and he threw me a change up
on the inside part of the plate and I hit
it into right field and two guys scored and we
took the lead, and it was and you know, you
could you could maybe go look that up and if
you did, you would see he was right. I've never
been around anybody understanding these guys oftentimes have great recall
(05:52):
for things they were involved in. I've never been anybody
who had that gift the way Pete did.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
You know, maybe not being permitted to be involved in
baseball directly and being part of the game really forced
him to dig deep into his history. In his past
to live in that world over and over again and
then understand it because that became him. And as he
went out and did his speeches and went on tour
(06:19):
and signed autographs, he had a great routine. And sometimes
it's a routine. And but if you sat down with
him and did a Q and A, and his routine
was good. By the way, you could hear it over
and over again, everybody laughing and talking about Pete and
he'd be telling stories and you might have heard it
ten times, but it's still just as good as the
tenth time. But he would get into Q and A.
(06:39):
And if you would bring up a question. I've heard
like Marty talk to him and different of his teammates
because they'll put him down on a few things, and
you're right, he recalls it and he's got some great insight.
And think about the history that he's been involved with
with players of his age, even afterwards, making phone calls
(07:00):
to them suggestions on you know, improving their game. Uh,
the guy could have been a great asset to baseball.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, you know, I I think of and I'm too
young to have experienced this firsthand, but I said before
that if you were to if you were to go
back into the mid seventies or late seventies, and and
and sort of. I don't know gauge who the most
famous people in the United States of America were. Pete
(07:28):
Rose was on that list. You know this this There
are a lot of great players in that ear. I'm
not sure there was anybody. There were many, there were
some many who busted through from a cultural perspective the
way Pete did. Can you speak to that for me?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
And I agree with that. I mean, I think locally,
you know, Johnny was national since uh you know, Pete
was local in nature from Cincinnati, but then he branched
down and was the national spokesperson did commercials. People knew
who he was because he had that You know how
we talk about players like Ellie with a electric personalities
(08:01):
and he's just electric electric player, right Pete Pete was.
I wouldn't say electric, but he he certainly could electrify
or at least galvanize the team and gets you fired up.
You certainly didn't want to play against him. Nobody wanted
to play against Pete. You wanted him on your team.
You might not have enjoyed the way that he went
after the game because he just kept coming at you.
(08:22):
And I don't think people always wanted to play one
hundred percent, but Pete certainly did. A special player played
like you want to play, like I think i'd play.
You know. I think we all though we can all
be major leaguers, but he wanted to be one, and
he became one.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, the news is fresh, and so you're probably not
equipped to answer this question, but i'll throw it at you. Nonetheless,
the twenty twenty four season just ended. Organizationally, I'm sure
things are going to be done as the twenty twenty
five season inches closer to commemorate the passing of Peace Rose.
(09:00):
From the Hall of Fame's perspective, I'm sure you've thought
about what you may do, and my guess is you have.
You don't have said in stone what you're going to do,
but I would imagine those discussions have already started.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Well, it's kind of ironic, you know. Next year's the
fiftieth anniversary of the seventy five World Championship, and I
think we had big plans the museum to celebrate and
honor and bring back players and have a reunion. And
that's going to happen, of course, and it'll take on
a new flavor next year with the passing of Pete.
(09:37):
I know, when they lose a player from that group,
I think it takes a piece of all of them
with them, meaning his teammates. They're so close, so tight,
and happened with Chill Morgan, have the sparky Anderson before that,
and anybody on that team. I think there's a closeness
to them. And I can just tell you that, you know,
we have certainly thought about what we're going to do.
(09:58):
It hasn't been a deep dive at all yet, but
it's about doing the right thing at the appropriate time,
working with his family and making sure that you know,
Pete is recognized honor the way everybody would like that
to be. And I think that's the key. You know,
we always do those things right, from reunions to inductions
to statues. It ends up being about them, and we
(10:20):
want to make sure we do this one right. So
there'll be something at some point. And can't tell you
exactly when, because I don't know. It's really just a
matter of everybody getting together to get this thing going.
I think, like you said, it's quick, it's fresh, it's
you know, yesterday, I think seven fifteen is the time
I heard. I'll remember that phone call and just trying
to verify if it was right or not because I
(10:42):
knew he was just active the day before and doing
an event in Nashville, and then he flew back to Vegas.
So you know.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Whatever is done, it'll be done in good taste and
it'll be worth everybody's time. I appreciate you jumping on.
We'll talk soon under more celebratory circumstances.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Rick, thanks so much, Absolutely, thanks both. Take care all right.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Twenty seven away from five o'clock, Rick Walls, executive director
of the Red's Hall of Fame n Museum, where at
Buffalo Wild Wings, cold Rain step away laid for a break,
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
You've been listening to football in Theinnetti on the official
home of the Bengals, Cincinnatis, ESPN fifteen thirty
Mo Egger News
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