Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are, of course, the home of the Denver of
the Yea, the Denver Brockers, the Colorado Rockies, and one
of the most optimistic guys I know, Jack Carrigan, the
voice of the Rockies, just wrapped up another rocky season,
which we're going to talk about a little bit, and
we're going to talk about Charlie Blackman a little bit,
and then I want to talk about Pete Rose maybe
more than a little bit. And I have to say, Jack,
(00:21):
usually you join me or me and Mandy on the
air at the opening day every year, and you're just
always so optimistic going into the season. And it hasn't
been you know, a wonderful seasons in recent seasons, but still.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
You just like upbeat every day.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
How do you do that and how do you reflect
on this rocky season?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Well, first of all, I got a lot of that
from my mother, who was the most uppyat person in
the world. I used to tease her and say, Mom,
if we had been on the Titanic, you would have
told us that's just how they give swimming lessons. So
I had that to begin with. But the other thing,
(01:03):
Vince Scully said to me once, and I've always you know,
I think I was doing it anyway, but I think
about it more. He said. The beauty of the job
that Jerry sheml and I have is that we're really
each season is a book, and each game is one
of the one hundred and sixty two chapters. You hope
(01:25):
there are more chapters than that, but you just deal
with the story that day, and there's always something interesting
in every broadcast, and you know, somebody makes the spectacular play,
something happens you hadn't seen before, like a book that
not seeing the winning run as happened Sunday, and it's
(01:46):
stuff you talk about. As for the season, Ross, I
think the second half was a lot more fun as
we started playing more and more of the kids and
seeing what their potential might be. It got both Cherry
and me excited.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
All right, I want to follow up on a couple
things you mentioned.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So first one hundred and sixty two games, that's a lot,
And it just occurred to me as you were saying
that that radio listeners, you know, they just tune in
and you're there, right, and they probably don't think that much,
And why would they really about what's the life of
(02:26):
somebody who does that job?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
What is that.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
And then at the same time that I'm thinking, like,
what an.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Insane life you lead for that part of the year.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
You almost implied, if I heard you're right, that it
wouldn't break your heart if there were more than one
hundred and sixty two games. But maybe you don't want
to go quite that far. But I mean, what is that?
What is that life like for you? That the travel
and all, well.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
You know, certainly we as a baseball team travel with
the ball club, and we travel different than the normal traveler.
And that you know, we're not going through security. It's
a chartered flight. There are you know, we still have
security on site, but it's you know, it's different than
(03:17):
the person that has to go through all that all
the major airports make travelers go through now. But you know,
there's no glamor to it, but there's no it's just
how you commute. I mean, you don't really think too
much of that, and you get into the rhythm of
(03:38):
the preparation and what you're doing each particular day home
and road. I mean you might not have the travel
part of it ross, but I mean you go through
a routine, you know, both before a broadcast and after
a broadcast, and you get into a rhythm and you
enjoy the rhythm, and when there's time off, you appreciate it.
(03:59):
But you know, when I tell people, I mean I
love baseball, obviously doing it this long. I love sports
in general, But I mean, think about it. I go
to the ballpark. They don't ask me for a ticket,
They just check my you know, my media pass. I
walk into the clubhouse, I walk out onto the field.
(04:21):
I go upstairs and sit with Jerry and Jesse Thomas,
two of my best friends, and sit and watch a
ball game and go home and afterwards and get ready
to do it the next day. And you know what
they pay me for that ross. You know, why wouldn't
you get excited.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
I've met your lovely bride.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Is she kind of happy to have you away a
lot for at least part of the year and get
a little time to herself.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, you know, I think probably in.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
My career.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
You know, I will finally step away from doing this
when it's time for her, when she's finally had enough
of a baseball schedule running our lives. But she also
knows too, you know, with our kids grown in families
of their own, I mean, she gets to make a
(05:15):
lot more trips than she did when our family was younger,
and we do have the off time, I think for her.
She said, well, you know, I'd like some time to
take a summer vacation. I said, well, you know that's
what everybody vacations. There clouded then I like the fall
and winter vacations. Just have to make sure you go
(05:36):
to the southern hemisphere to get some warm weather.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
That's all that's dude.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
My wife and I went to Cartagena, Columbia a week ago.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yeah that's what I heard.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Wow, I know what you're talking about. And it was
low season, right.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
The kids are back in school, so the airfare is
cheaper and the hotels are cheaper and the place is
less crowded.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I'm so completely with you on that.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Just toss whatever you want to say about Charlie Blackman.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Ultimate professional. I just loved how he went about his business.
You know, Charlie was engaging, had a unique sense of humor.
The beard and the mullet haircut were a wonderful disguise
for him for somebody who is almost brilliant from a
(06:27):
baseball perspective, and how he looks at the game. I
just loved watching how he went about his business because
he he's what we all would want in our own
lives and with the people we worked with. He was
consistent and he was genuine And when you have those
two elements attached to who you are, you're a good dude.
(06:51):
I mean, you're a real good dude. And Charlie fit
that for sure. And oh, by the way, you know,
maybe the third best Rockies player ever to wear a
Colorado uniform, and maybe second best in terms of longevity.
You know, you go, Todd Helton. You appreciate what Larry
(07:12):
Walker was as a Rocky and elsewhere in his career,
and then you get Chuck Nasty fourteen years of being
genuinely consistent.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
It was a remarkable thing to watch all those years.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
These days, I think in almost every professional sport it's
very unusual to see a long career with one team,
And so that was that was pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
And if I heard right.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
And you can you've probably heard this too, so you
can tell me if I if I heard it right or.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
If I heard it wrong.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
I thought a reporter asked him if he was gonna
shave now, and I thought his answer was he's got
to think about it a bit because his wife has
never seen him without a beard.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Yeah, it was. It was a great Charlie answer. I
think if people saw the video from that news conference,
as the question was asked, before he even spoke, he
looked over at Ashley, his wife, with one of those
husband like look, and I would think it may not
(08:14):
have happened this week, but it will happen sooner rather
than later. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Just for listeners.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Let me just interject something different here for a second,
and that I'm going to come back to after I
talked a little bit more with Jack. But Israel has
reported that Iran has launched missiles at Israel. Fox News
is reporting that missiles have been intercepted over Israel. The
Israeli Defense Force has urged Israelis to go to protected
(08:44):
spaces if they hear sirens. There really isn't much more
to add than that right now, anyway, but I wanted
to make sure you got that while it's happening, and
I'll come back to it a bit a bit later on. So, Jack,
I was watching baseball as a kid in the seventies
and as a Navy brat moving around all the time
(09:05):
you don't really have necessarily a home team based on
where you were born, and you kind of just come
to like the team. And it's sort of not fair
in a way because it's not like you, you know,
you live in Cleveland and you're stuck having to be
a Browns fan. So, you know, in the seventies, I
was a Steelers fan with Terry Bradshaw, I was a
Cincinnati Reds fan. I mean, why wouldn't you be right?
(09:29):
And Pete Rose was, I mean, the best of all
time many many things in baseball, and yet there's this
cloud over him, and he passed away yesterday. Before we
get to the Hall of Fame discussion, I just want
to hear anything you have to say about Pete Rose.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, you know, in Peach's case, he was in many
ways the ultimate overachiever. I mean, he sort of willed
himself in to being the number one guy all time
in terms of bass hits in baseball. You know, his nickname,
(10:08):
Charlie Hustle was actually a derogatory comment from Whitey Ford
during spring training in Florida when he hit a ground
ball to second base and you know, and ran all
the way down, you know, to first at top speed
(10:29):
to be you know, thrown out easily, and and Ford
was at the end of his career and you know,
the grizzly Bett and all of that, and he just
you know, derisively said, hey, hey, hey, Charlie, hustle, keep
it going, you know. But it wasn't meant in positive terms.
But Pete, who probably till the day he died, they
(10:52):
you know, had a chip on his shoulder and that
just added to the chip, added to the the motivation.
And you know, for me, being a native Clevelander, I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Sorry about Cleveland Brown's comment before then.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Well there's unfortunately a lot of accuracy to that. But
you know, we always had a little bit of of
ill will towards Pete because he basically changed the career
of Ray Fossey in that you know, collision at home
plate in the All Star Game. I mean, Ray hurt
(11:30):
his shoulder and really wasn't the same player again when
at the time he was considered, you know, the best
young catchers. So we always had that out for Pete.
A little bit long suffering Cleveland baseball fans, but I
mean you had to marvel at how we played the game.
You had to marvel at at his relentless pursuit, I
(11:54):
mean early on in his career, and he was going
to play until you took the uniform off his back,
until he was number one in something in baseball. That's
what drove him. I mean he was he was a
maniacal competitor who had had to win, and that was
part of his problem too.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
All right, So two sort of related questions. And pardon
the ignorance of my question, but I did did the
beginning of your career overlap with the end of his career?
Did you ever broadcast when he was playing? And did
you ever meet him?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
I have not met him. I started in eighty five,
and you know, and Pete had his it was managing
in Cincinnati during that time. But Inner League didn't start
until ninety seven. So and in the early part of
my time with Cleveland, we were training in Tucson, and
(12:56):
by the time they went to Florida for a while
in the mid nineties, Pete had already finished his time
with the Red So never crossed paths with him. Obviously,
heard lots of stories from many different people.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
So now that he's gone, now that he's passed away,
the remaining discussion is the Hall of Fame discussion. Of course,
he was banned from baseball for life for gambling, although,
as a listener points out, like there were other not
so great aspects of Pete Rose's character. This listener, you know,
calls him sleazy. I want to be a little a
(13:36):
little careful of the guy who just passed away.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
But as far as I know, he never bet.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Against his own team. I do think that makes a difference.
But I also think everybody understands baseball players are not
supposed to be betting on baseball. How do you think
about the importance of this baseball thing as it relates
to whether he should never be considered for the Hall
(14:03):
of Fame.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Well, you know, the one thing ross from rookie ball
up to the big leagues for a player you know
immediately Rule twenty one D because there are at least
three posters with the information about that rule regarding gambling
(14:27):
on baseball and what the punishment is going to be.
So you can't get around that even saying he you know,
he only betted on it, will only place bets on
this or place bets on that. The rule is the rule,
(14:48):
and everybody knows the rule in that regard, and gambling
can be a disease for a lot of people, and
I think it was for Peter. There's no question of
that based on his competitive nature. But you can't get
around the fact that no matter how he bet, he
(15:08):
did violate the rule. And I think the denial of
betting was what hurt him as much as anything in
the process in terms of the suspension and over the
years in terms of there's no doubt he qualifies as
you know, one of the greatest, you know, hitters in
(15:30):
the history of the game. But you know that if
you're going to have rules, you have rules. So it's
so hard. I heard somebody said, well, he violated the
rules as a manager, not as a player, So you
could put him in as a player and suspend him
for life as a manager, But did he bet on
(15:51):
games as a player that you know, it's where there's smoke,
there's fire, you know that cliche. It makes it very difficult.
Perhaps at some point it's going to happen, but I
kind of knew it was not going to happen in
his lifetime, just sensing the atmosphere, the attitude of the
people who would have included him through the Veterans Committee voting.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, and I want to just for a second here
take on a listener question. I'll give my quick answer,
and then you can give your quick answer. You don't
have much time left ross what's wrong with betting on yourself?
And I'll just throw out a hypothetical to this listener.
First of all, separate from Jack's most important point, which
is that's against the rules. But also, imagine that you're
managing a baseball team and you bet on a game
(16:35):
for your team to win, and maybe you change some
things around, and maybe you bring in a pitcher who
wasn't going to pitch that game so that you think
you have a better chance of winning. But that pitcher
was supposed to pitch tomorrow's game, and now he doesn't
pitch tomorrow's game. So maybe you win the game that
you brought the guy in to pitch early, but maybe
(16:56):
he was a little too tired and doesn't even win
that one, and then he's not available to pitch the
next day, so you lose the next game. That's just
one example. You really have to think you know a
couple of layers here. Do you want to add anything
to that, Jack, Well.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Yeah, just you know, you could say, what if the
player gets hurt? I mean, it still is a team game,
and even more so from a manager's perspective. I talk
with Bud Black, both on the air and just in
conversation multiple times about one of the great challenges as
a manager is not only you want to win that
(17:33):
particular game each night, no question, but you also have
to consider its impact in the bigger picture. And when
the example that you just gave takes place, you've forgotten
about the big picture, or from a baseball perspective, you've
(17:53):
forgotten about the team. Now it's just about you. Yeah, great,
you want to win, but you want to win for yourself.
You're not winning for the greater good of the rest
of those players in uniform and everybody associated with that team.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Last question for you, then, if you were king and
you could make the decision that will last forever, would
Pete Rose be allowed consideration for the Hall of Fame
now that he's dead?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
I would say yes, just to sort of make a
final decision, because it has always lingered for all these years,
it has lingered. Will they changed their mind? Will they not?
You know, different people and all that I knew nothing
was going to happen while he was alive, because Pete
would have used it for his personal moment if you
(18:53):
will beyond you know, look at how Todd Helton handled
his induction and all the people that he recognized and
thanked for what had taken place. It would have been
a soapbox for Pete and it probably wouldn't have been pretty.
So that's why it never would have happened while he
was alive. Yeah, I think sometime here, at one point,
(19:15):
we've got to put it to bed once and for all.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Jack Corrigan, his voice of the Colorado Rockies, along with
his broadcasting partner Jerry Shemmel, thanks so much for taking
the time with us, Jack, who was a fabulous conversation.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
As always my pleasure.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Ross. I look forward to now that I do have
some time, you know, we'll go out and grab a
cup of coffee.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I'd love to thank you, Jack,
We are, of course, the home of the Denver of
the Yea, the Denver Brockers, the Colorado Rockies, and one
of the most optimistic guys I know, Jack Carrigan, the
voice of the Rockies, just wrapped up another rocky season,
which we're going to talk about a little bit, and
we're going to talk about Charlie Blackman a little bit,
and then I want to talk about Pete Rose maybe
more than a little bit. And I have to say, Jack,
(00:21):
usually you join me or me and Mandy on the
air at the opening day every year, and you're just
always so optimistic going into the season. And it hasn't
been you know, a wonderful seasons in recent seasons, but still.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
You just like upbeat every day.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
How do you do that and how do you reflect
on this rocky season?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Well, first of all, I got a lot of that
from my mother, who was the most uppyat person in
the world. I used to tease her and say, Mom,
if we had been on the Titanic, you would have
told us that's just how they give swimming lessons. So
I had that to begin with. But the other thing,
(01:03):
Vince Scully said to me once, and I've always you know,
I think I was doing it anyway, but I think
about it more. He said. The beauty of the job
that Jerry sheml and I have is that we're really
each season is a book, and each game is one
of the one hundred and sixty two chapters. You hope
(01:25):
there are more chapters than that, but you just deal
with the story that day, and there's always something interesting
in every broadcast, and you know, somebody makes the spectacular play,
something happens you hadn't seen before, like a book that
not seeing the winning run as happened Sunday, and it's
(01:46):
stuff you talk about. As for the season, Ross, I
think the second half was a lot more fun as
we started playing more and more of the kids and
seeing what their potential might be. It got both Cherry
and me excited.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
All right, I want to follow up on a couple
things you mentioned.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So first one hundred and sixty two games, that's a lot,
And it just occurred to me as you were saying
that that radio listeners, you know, they just tune in
and you're there, right, and they probably don't think that much,
And why would they really about what's the life of
(02:26):
somebody who does that job?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
What is that.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
And then at the same time that I'm thinking, like,
what an.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Insane life you lead for that part of the year.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
You almost implied, if I heard you're right, that it
wouldn't break your heart if there were more than one
hundred and sixty two games. But maybe you don't want
to go quite that far. But I mean, what is that?
What is that life like for you? That the travel
and all, well.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
You know, certainly we as a baseball team travel with
the ball club, and we travel different than the normal traveler.
And that you know, we're not going through security. It's
a chartered flight. There are you know, we still have
security on site, but it's you know, it's different than
(03:17):
the person that has to go through all that all
the major airports make travelers go through now. But you know,
there's no glamor to it, but there's no it's just
how you commute. I mean, you don't really think too
much of that, and you get into the rhythm of
(03:38):
the preparation and what you're doing each particular day home
and road. I mean you might not have the travel
part of it ross, but I mean you go through
a routine, you know, both before a broadcast and after
a broadcast, and you get into a rhythm and you
enjoy the rhythm, and when there's time off, you appreciate it.
(03:59):
But you know, when I tell people, I mean I
love baseball, obviously doing it this long. I love sports
in general, But I mean, think about it. I go
to the ballpark. They don't ask me for a ticket,
They just check my you know, my media pass. I
walk into the clubhouse, I walk out onto the field.
(04:21):
I go upstairs and sit with Jerry and Jesse Thomas,
two of my best friends, and sit and watch a
ball game and go home and afterwards and get ready
to do it the next day. And you know what
they pay me for that ross. You know, why wouldn't
you get excited.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
I've met your lovely bride.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Is she kind of happy to have you away a
lot for at least part of the year and get
a little time to herself.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, you know, I think probably in.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
My career.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
You know, I will finally step away from doing this
when it's time for her, when she's finally had enough
of a baseball schedule running our lives. But she also
knows too, you know, with our kids grown in families
of their own, I mean, she gets to make a
(05:15):
lot more trips than she did when our family was younger,
and we do have the off time, I think for her.
She said, well, you know, I'd like some time to
take a summer vacation. I said, well, you know that's
what everybody vacations. There clouded then I like the fall
and winter vacations. Just have to make sure you go
(05:36):
to the southern hemisphere to get some warm weather.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
That's all that's dude.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
My wife and I went to Cartagena, Columbia a week ago.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yeah that's what I heard.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Wow, I know what you're talking about. And it was
low season, right.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
The kids are back in school, so the airfare is
cheaper and the hotels are cheaper and the place is
less crowded.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I'm so completely with you on that.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Just toss whatever you want to say about Charlie Blackman.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Ultimate professional. I just loved how he went about his business.
You know, Charlie was engaging, had a unique sense of humor.
The beard and the mullet haircut were a wonderful disguise
for him for somebody who is almost brilliant from a
(06:27):
baseball perspective, and how he looks at the game. I
just loved watching how he went about his business because
he he's what we all would want in our own
lives and with the people we worked with. He was
consistent and he was genuine And when you have those
two elements attached to who you are, you're a good dude.
(06:51):
I mean, you're a real good dude. And Charlie fit
that for sure. And oh, by the way, you know,
maybe the third best Rockies player ever to wear a
Colorado uniform, and maybe second best in terms of longevity.
You know, you go, Todd Helton. You appreciate what Larry
(07:12):
Walker was as a Rocky and elsewhere in his career,
and then you get Chuck Nasty fourteen years of being
genuinely consistent.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
It was a remarkable thing to watch all those years.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
These days, I think in almost every professional sport it's
very unusual to see a long career with one team,
And so that was that was pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
And if I heard right.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
And you can you've probably heard this too, so you
can tell me if I if I heard it right or.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
If I heard it wrong.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
I thought a reporter asked him if he was gonna
shave now, and I thought his answer was he's got
to think about it a bit because his wife has
never seen him without a beard.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Yeah, it was. It was a great Charlie answer. I
think if people saw the video from that news conference,
as the question was asked, before he even spoke, he
looked over at Ashley, his wife, with one of those
husband like look, and I would think it may not
(08:14):
have happened this week, but it will happen sooner rather
than later. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Just for listeners.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Let me just interject something different here for a second,
and that I'm going to come back to after I
talked a little bit more with Jack. But Israel has
reported that Iran has launched missiles at Israel. Fox News
is reporting that missiles have been intercepted over Israel. The
Israeli Defense Force has urged Israelis to go to protected
(08:44):
spaces if they hear sirens. There really isn't much more
to add than that right now, anyway, but I wanted
to make sure you got that while it's happening, and
I'll come back to it a bit a bit later on. So, Jack,
I was watching baseball as a kid in the seventies
and as a Navy brat moving around all the time
(09:05):
you don't really have necessarily a home team based on
where you were born, and you kind of just come
to like the team. And it's sort of not fair
in a way because it's not like you, you know,
you live in Cleveland and you're stuck having to be
a Browns fan. So, you know, in the seventies, I
was a Steelers fan with Terry Bradshaw, I was a
Cincinnati Reds fan. I mean, why wouldn't you be right?
(09:29):
And Pete Rose was, I mean, the best of all
time many many things in baseball, and yet there's this
cloud over him, and he passed away yesterday. Before we
get to the Hall of Fame discussion, I just want
to hear anything you have to say about Pete Rose.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, you know, in Peach's case, he was in many
ways the ultimate overachiever. I mean, he sort of willed
himself in to being the number one guy all time
in terms of bass hits in baseball. You know, his nickname,
(10:08):
Charlie Hustle was actually a derogatory comment from Whitey Ford
during spring training in Florida when he hit a ground
ball to second base and you know, and ran all
the way down, you know, to first at top speed
(10:29):
to be you know, thrown out easily, and and Ford
was at the end of his career and you know,
the grizzly Bett and all of that, and he just
you know, derisively said, hey, hey, hey, Charlie, hustle, keep
it going, you know. But it wasn't meant in positive terms.
But Pete, who probably till the day he died, they
(10:52):
you know, had a chip on his shoulder and that
just added to the chip, added to the the motivation.
And you know, for me, being a native Clevelander, I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Sorry about Cleveland Brown's comment before then.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Well there's unfortunately a lot of accuracy to that. But
you know, we always had a little bit of of
ill will towards Pete because he basically changed the career
of Ray Fossey in that you know, collision at home
plate in the All Star Game. I mean, Ray hurt
(11:30):
his shoulder and really wasn't the same player again when
at the time he was considered, you know, the best
young catchers. So we always had that out for Pete.
A little bit long suffering Cleveland baseball fans, but I
mean you had to marvel at how we played the game.
You had to marvel at at his relentless pursuit, I
(11:54):
mean early on in his career, and he was going
to play until you took the uniform off his back,
until he was number one in something in baseball. That's
what drove him. I mean he was he was a
maniacal competitor who had had to win, and that was
part of his problem too.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
All right, So two sort of related questions. And pardon
the ignorance of my question, but I did did the
beginning of your career overlap with the end of his career?
Did you ever broadcast when he was playing? And did
you ever meet him?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
I have not met him. I started in eighty five,
and you know, and Pete had his it was managing
in Cincinnati during that time. But Inner League didn't start
until ninety seven. So and in the early part of
my time with Cleveland, we were training in Tucson, and
(12:56):
by the time they went to Florida for a while
in the mid nineties, Pete had already finished his time
with the Red So never crossed paths with him. Obviously,
heard lots of stories from many different people.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
So now that he's gone, now that he's passed away,
the remaining discussion is the Hall of Fame discussion. Of course,
he was banned from baseball for life for gambling, although,
as a listener points out, like there were other not
so great aspects of Pete Rose's character. This listener, you know,
calls him sleazy. I want to be a little a
(13:36):
little careful of the guy who just passed away.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
But as far as I know, he never bet.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Against his own team. I do think that makes a difference.
But I also think everybody understands baseball players are not
supposed to be betting on baseball. How do you think
about the importance of this baseball thing as it relates
to whether he should never be considered for the Hall
(14:03):
of Fame.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Well, you know, the one thing ross from rookie ball
up to the big leagues for a player you know
immediately Rule twenty one D because there are at least
three posters with the information about that rule regarding gambling
(14:27):
on baseball and what the punishment is going to be.
So you can't get around that even saying he you know,
he only betted on it, will only place bets on
this or place bets on that. The rule is the rule,
(14:48):
and everybody knows the rule in that regard, and gambling
can be a disease for a lot of people, and
I think it was for Peter. There's no question of
that based on his competitive nature. But you can't get
around the fact that no matter how he bet, he
(15:08):
did violate the rule. And I think the denial of
betting was what hurt him as much as anything in
the process in terms of the suspension and over the
years in terms of there's no doubt he qualifies as
you know, one of the greatest, you know, hitters in
(15:30):
the history of the game. But you know that if
you're going to have rules, you have rules. So it's
so hard. I heard somebody said, well, he violated the
rules as a manager, not as a player, So you
could put him in as a player and suspend him
for life as a manager, But did he bet on
(15:51):
games as a player that you know, it's where there's smoke,
there's fire, you know that cliche. It makes it very difficult.
Perhaps at some point it's going to happen, but I
kind of knew it was not going to happen in
his lifetime, just sensing the atmosphere, the attitude of the
people who would have included him through the Veterans Committee voting.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, and I want to just for a second here
take on a listener question. I'll give my quick answer,
and then you can give your quick answer. You don't
have much time left ross what's wrong with betting on yourself?
And I'll just throw out a hypothetical to this listener.
First of all, separate from Jack's most important point, which
is that's against the rules. But also, imagine that you're
managing a baseball team and you bet on a game
(16:35):
for your team to win, and maybe you change some
things around, and maybe you bring in a pitcher who
wasn't going to pitch that game so that you think
you have a better chance of winning. But that pitcher
was supposed to pitch tomorrow's game, and now he doesn't
pitch tomorrow's game. So maybe you win the game that
you brought the guy in to pitch early, but maybe
(16:56):
he was a little too tired and doesn't even win
that one, and then he's not available to pitch the
next day, so you lose the next game. That's just
one example. You really have to think you know a
couple of layers here. Do you want to add anything
to that, Jack, Well.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Yeah, just you know, you could say, what if the
player gets hurt? I mean, it still is a team game,
and even more so from a manager's perspective. I talk
with Bud Black, both on the air and just in
conversation multiple times about one of the great challenges as
a manager is not only you want to win that
(17:33):
particular game each night, no question, but you also have
to consider its impact in the bigger picture. And when
the example that you just gave takes place, you've forgotten
about the big picture, or from a baseball perspective, you've
(17:53):
forgotten about the team. Now it's just about you. Yeah, great,
you want to win, but you want to win for yourself.
You're not winning for the greater good of the rest
of those players in uniform and everybody associated with that team.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Last question for you, then, if you were king and
you could make the decision that will last forever, would
Pete Rose be allowed consideration for the Hall of Fame
now that he's dead?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
I would say yes, just to sort of make a
final decision, because it has always lingered for all these years,
it has lingered. Will they changed their mind? Will they not?
You know, different people and all that I knew nothing
was going to happen while he was alive, because Pete
would have used it for his personal moment if you
(18:53):
will beyond you know, look at how Todd Helton handled
his induction and all the people that he recognized and
thanked for what had taken place. It would have been
a soapbox for Pete and it probably wouldn't have been pretty.
So that's why it never would have happened while he
was alive. Yeah, I think sometime here, at one point,
(19:15):
we've got to put it to bed once and for all.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Jack Corrigan, his voice of the Colorado Rockies, along with
his broadcasting partner Jerry Shemmel, thanks so much for taking
the time with us, Jack, who was a fabulous conversation.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
As always my pleasure.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Ross. I look forward to now that I do have
some time, you know, we'll go out and grab a
cup of coffee.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I'd love to thank you, Jack,
The Ross Kaminsky Show News
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