
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 22, 1990                   TAG: 9007230299
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

THE GAMBLER

PETE ROSE was sentenced last week to five months in jail for tax evasion, the result of not reporting income from the gambling that got him banned from baseball. It is, presumably, the end of his free-fall plunge from baseball hero to bum.

Within the nature of his heroism, it now seems clear in retrospect, lay also the means of his undoing.

Even in the prime years of Rose's career with Cincinnati's Big Red Machine, he was not among the very top rank of players. Just on his own team - admittedly an extraordinarily talented one - there were better players: catcher Johnny Bench and second baseman Joe Morgan; even outfielder George Foster, for a homer-hitting year or two.

Still, Rose stood out as "Charley Hustle." And Rose was durable: He played on and on and on - longer than he should have - hitting single after single after single, until he had broken Ty Cobb's record for career hits.

Yet such hustle and durability, such zest for the game, were born of a drivenness that off the diamond made a wreck of Rose's life. He tried to hustle extra cash; he continued gambling even while lying and denying he had a problem. He ended up losing much more than a bet.

by CNB