Top quotes by Pete Rose

I met Gerald Ford. I met Richard Nixon. I met Jimmy Carter. I met Dwight Eisenhower when he was a general. George Bush senior. I haven't met Bill Clinton or George W. Bush, although I got a letter from him. Votes: 45

I never gave up as a player, and I won't give up as someone who wants to go to the Hall of Fame, because it's the ultimate goal for a baseball player or a football player or a basketball player. Votes: 30

Sliding headfirst is the safest way to get to the next base, I think, and the fastest. You don't lose your momentum, and there's one more important reason I slide headfirst, it gets my picture in the paper. Votes: 26

The game of baseball is better when the Dodgers are playing well, just like when the Yankees are playing well, or the Cubs, the Phillies, the big-name teams. Votes: 21

I love the fans, I love the game of baseball, and I love Cincinnati baseball. Votes: 19

If somebody is gracious enough to give me a second chance, I won't need a third. Votes: 16

Obama's a great speaker. Because of his speaking ability and his appearance, a lot of guys got on board. Being the first African American, a lot guys got on board. Votes: 15

Back in 1960 at Christmas time, I did work loading and unloading boxcars for Railway Express. That was a kind of weight training that helped me. I weighed about 160 when I started. I began to gain weight and kept right on gaining until I reached 195 pounds. Votes: 14

Of course, I believe that Mike Piazza is probably the greatest offensive catcher in the history of baseball, only got over 50%. Johnny Bench is the best catcher in the history of baseball, but Piazza has all the record for catchers as far as offensively. Votes: 13

There is an old saying that money can't buy happiness. If it could, I would buy myself four hits every game. Votes: 12

Somebody's gotta win and somebody's gotta lose and I believe in letting the other guy lose. Votes: 11

It's a round ball and a round bat, and you got to hit it square. Votes: 11

I'm just like everybody else. I have two arms, two legs and four-thousand hits. Votes: 10

No one ever asked what was my relationship with Bart Giamatti. We used to talk about baseball a lot as a player and a commissioner, just talk about the game, what could we do to help the game, where's the game going, he was pretty good. Votes: 9

When you play this game twenty years, go to bat ten-thousand times, and get three-thousand hits, do you know what that means? You've gone zero for seven-thousand. Votes: 9

I've never looked forward to a birthday like I'm looking forward to my new daughter's birthday, because two days after that is when I can apply for reinstatement. Votes: 8

I like Barack Obama as a person. He's articulate, he knows sports, his brother-in-law's a coach. He always has the athletes to the White House. But I don't know about some of his policies and some of these people in Congress. Votes: 8

Umpires got power, man. You ever notice if you go to a ballpark and there's a close play on first base, they will not run the replay at the ballpark? I've seen umpires go underneath and call up and say if you run one more of those replays, we're gonna forfeit the game. That's how strong their union is. Votes: 8

I never picked up my phone and called a bookmaker and bet on a baseball game from the clubhouse. Never. Votes: 7

I don't go to bed every night worried about getting back into baseball. Votes: 7

I played with 11 Hall of Famers and played against 52 Hall of Famers, and I don't know any of them linked to steroids. Votes: 7

I would think if someone connected to steroids made the Hall of Fame, that would enhance my chances of making the Hall of Fame. Votes: 7

The team that wins two-thirds of its one run games usually wins the pennant. Votes: 5

You know, baseball's not stupid. Baseball does what the fans want, usually. Votes: 5

There's other ways to make your head and muscles bigger than just steroids. Votes: 5

I am grateful that I live in a nation where most believe that one's punishment should fit their wrongdoing and that ours is a nation that judges an individual by both what he has done and how he has changed. Votes: 3

I look at the records, and you don't win the Cy Young seven times or the MVP without being a good player. Votes: 3

My father taught me that the only way you can make good at anything is to practice, and then practice some more. Votes: 2

My body is my best asset. Votes: 2

Baseball and the players association have rules. If you stay within the rules - which say that you can play while you're appealing - I don't see what anyone would be in arms about. Votes: 1

I bet on my team to win every night because I love my team; I believe in my team. I did everything in my power every night to win that game. Votes: 0

I had an addiction to play baseball. Votes: 0

When I get the record, all it will make me is the player with the most hits. I'm also the player with the most at bats and the most outs. I never said I was a greater player than Cobb. Votes: 0

With the money I'm making, I should be playing two positions. Votes: 0

Are you tall? Are you strong? How big are your hands? You must be honest with yourself or you will end up using the wrong bat. Votes: 0

I don't think there's any honor bigger than going to your Hall of Fame for your sport. Votes: 0

Can you be a nicer gentleman, or a better man for your sport or your kids than Joe Paterno? Votes: 0

No matter how many times you say you're sorry, somebody is not going to hear you. Votes: 0

See the ball; hit the ball. Votes: 0

You owe it to yourself to be the best you can possibly be - in baseball and in life. Votes: 0

If I had admitted my guilt, it would have been the same as putting my head on the chopping block - lifetime ban. Death penalty. I spent my entire life on the baseball fields of America, and I was not going to give up my profession without first seeing some hard evidence ... right or wrong, the punishment didn't fit the crime, so I denied the crime. Votes: 0

Brooks Robinson belongs in a higher league. Votes: 0

The greatest competitor was Bob Gibson. He worked so fast out there and he always had the hood up. He always wanted to close his own deal. He never talked to you because he was battling so hard. I sure as hell don't miss batting against him, but I miss him in the game. Votes: 0

If you screw up and do something, don't lie about it; come clean. Votes: 0

Doctors tell me I have the body of a thirty year old. I know I have the brain of a fifteen year old. If you've got both, you can play baseball. Votes: 0

I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball. Votes: 0

Am I still in uniform? Then I ain't retired. Votes: 0

No player or manager has greater respect for the umpires than I do, and I have demonstrated that over the years. Votes: 0

I was born on the day Lincoln was shot and the Titanic sank. Votes: 0

We were so poor when I was a kid that I had a sister who was stamped, 'Made In Japan.' Votes: 0

I told him (Pete Rose, Jr.) who to watch. I said if you want to be a catcher, watch Johnny Bench. If you want to be a right-handed power hitter, watch Mike Schmidt. If you just want to be a hitter, watch me. Votes: 0

The manager of a team is like a stagecoach, he can't move unless he has the horses. Votes: 0

When people think of me, they think about me knocking catchers down and knocking second basemen down and yelling at pitchers. But when I took the spikes off after the game, I was a nice guy when I went home. Votes: 0

I bet on the game of baseball and I bet on my team, even the mistakes I made, I have to take a different look at someone betting against their own team... that's throwing the game. Votes: 0

I admitted I bet on baseball, but I wasn't suspended from baseball for betting on baseball. Votes: 0

Some of my biggest friends are big-time horse owners. Votes: 0

A lot of these catchers don't understand that they are blocking the plate and they don't have the ball. You're not allowed to block the plate without the ball. Votes: 0

Who cares if you bunt for a base hit? Votes: 0

Some players you pat their butts, some players you kick their butts, some players you leave alone. Votes: 0

Willie Mays could throw better, and Hank Aaron could hit more home runs. But I've got enthusiasm. I've got desire. I've got hustle. Those are God-given talents, too. Votes: 0

If baseball wants to get you, they've got enough resources and enough investigators that they'll find a way to get you. Votes: 0

A team will take on its manager's personality. If it's a laid back manager, you'll have a laid back personality. The players will see that if it's OK for the Manager to be laid back, then you'll have a laid back team. Votes: 0

I owe baseball. Baseball don't owe me a damn thing. Votes: 0

Sometimes, when you don't have spark, someone in the dugout has to create something. Votes: 0

In the old days, you know, they didn't have batting cages. And in most ball parks, they only had one runway to the dugout. Votes: 0

They haven't given too many gamblers a second chances in the world of baseball. Votes: 0

I actually went to some Gamblers Anonymous classes, and I sat there for three or four of them, and I'm trying to figure out what I have in similarities with these other people, and I could never find anything. It just seems like it wasn't the right place for me. Votes: 0

Hillary Clinton wrote a book. She got paid. I don't understand why I can't. Votes: 0

There is no doubt that because I am a switch hitter I have one of the best offensive advantages that a hitter can have. Votes: 0

I'm built like my dad. Stocky, strong. Votes: 0

A hitter's impatience is the pitcher's biggest advantage. Votes: 0

Among many U. S. wine consumers, California holds a strong position. Votes: 0

Baseball is a universal language. Catch the ball, throw the ball, hit the ball. Votes: 0

Baseball is an individual game, but it should never be a personal game. Votes: 0

Concentration is that ability to not think about anything. Votes: 0

Creating success is tough. But keeping it is tougher. You have to keep producing, you can't ever stop. Votes: 0

Day after day there are lots of fans here and it helps a lot with them out there rooting for us. Votes: 0

Don Gullett's the only guy who can throw a baseball through a car wash and not get the ball wet. Votes: 0

Every time I step up to the plate, I expect to get a hit. If I don't expect to get a hit, I have no right to step into the batter's box in the first place. Votes: 0

He (Eric Davis) gets power from his bat speed.....it's like he has cork in his arms. Votes: 0

I always say, the only time you gotta worry about getting booed is when you're wearing a white uniform. And I've never been booed wearing a white uniform. Votes: 0

I came to Vegas because I work 20 days a month here; I couldn't live anywhere else. Votes: 0

I can't remember, I wish I could remember the first time I bet on baseball. Votes: 0

I don't like to be compared to Joe Jackson. because Joe Jackson, I think, took money to throw World Series games. Well, I know I bet on my own team to win. There's pretty much a big difference there, but both of us were wrong. Votes: 0

I don't smoke. Smoking will hurt you when you try to run out a triple. Votes: 0

I haven't missed a game in two-and-a-half years. I go to the park as sick as a dog and, when I see my uniform hanging there, I get well right now. Then I see some of you guys (media) and I get sick again. Votes: 0

I made mistakes. I can't whine about it. I'm the one that messed up and I'm paying the consequences. However, if I am given a second chance, I won't need a third chance. And to be honest with you, I picked the wrong vice. I should have picked alcohol. I should have picked drugs or I should have picked up beating up my wife or girlfriend because if you do those three, you get a second chance. They haven't given too many gamblers second chances in the world of baseball. Votes: 0

I should have shut up when I went up there and talked to Carlton Fisk. Votes: 0

I think that the most important thing to me is fans. Without the viewers, without the fans, we have nothing. So I think the fans are awfully important. Votes: 0

I'd be willing to bet you, if I was a betting man, that I have never bet on baseball. Votes: 0

If I had been busted for drugs instead of gambling, I'd still be managing the Reds and baseball would be paying for my rehab. Votes: 0

If you have someone equal in ability to me I will beat him every time because I will try harder. Votes: 0

If you're not active - and I'm not active - and you don't watch what you eat, you can get big as a horse. Votes: 0

I'm no different from anybody else with two arms, two legs, and forty-two hundred hits. Votes: 0

I'm not bad (his speed). I'm no Joe Morgan, but I'm pretty good for a white guy. Votes: 0

It doesn't take much to get me up for baseball. Once the National Anthem plays, I get chills. I even know the words to it now. Votes: 0

It's easy to practice something that you are good at, and that is what most people do. Wat's tough is to go ot and to work hard on the things that you don't do very well. Votes: 0

I've got a 15-year old son and a 10-year old daughter, and if they were going to do one of the following things: be an alcoholic; be a drug offender; beat their wife or husband; or gamble. I hope they would gamble. Votes: 0

Never bet on baseball. Votes: 0

Once you accept defeat, it becomes ease to lose. If defeat comes, face it and take it, but don't accept it. Votes: 0

People say I don't have great tools. They say that I can't throw like Ellis Valentine or run like Tim Raines or hit with power like Mike Schmidt. Who can? I make up for it in other ways, by putting out a little bit more. That's my theory, to go through life hustling. In the big leagues, hustle usually means being in the right place at the right time. It means backing up a base. It means backing up your teammate. It means taking that headfirst slide. It means doing everything you can do to win a baseball game. Votes: 0

Playing baseball for a living is like having a license to steal. Votes: 0

Practice the game the way you're going to play the game. Practice hard and play hard. Run hard and above all else, hustle every moment you're on the field where you are practicing or playing in a game. Votes: 0

Pressure? Well it ain't hitting in forty-four straight games, because I done that and it was fun. The playoffs are pressure. Votes: 0

Singles hitters drive Fords. Home-run hitters drive Cadillacs. Votes: 0

Sure I do, and if someone paid you six-thousand dollars a game, you'd have fun as well. Votes: 0

The only book I ever read cover to cover was The Pete Rose Story. I read half of The Lou Gehrig Story and then made a book report on it for four straight years. Votes: 0

The only way I can't hit .300 is if there's something physically wrong with me. Votes: 0

The thing I would like most to leave behind is to be remembered for trying hard. Votes: 0

Unfortunately, gambling and winning don't often go hand-in-hand. Votes: 0

What's the game coming to? Evidently the guys making all these rules never played the game of baseball. Votes: 0

When I get the record, all it will make me is the player with the most hits. I'm also the player with the most at bats and the most outs. I never said I was a greater player than (Ty) Cobb. Votes: 0

When people ask me, "Who was the toughest pitcher you ever faced?", I have to say that there has never been a pitcher who over-impressed me. That's not meant to be a bragging statement. It's just that I get up for good pitchers. Votes: 0

When you step into the batter's box, have nothing on your mind except baseball. Votes: 0

Whoever said "It's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game" is full of it! Winning makes all the difference in the world. Winning is fun. Losing is not. Losing sucks. Votes: 0

You know what God told the Cubs? Don't do anything until I come back. Votes: 0

You'd be surprised how many shortcomings can be overcome by hustle. Votes: 0

Jay Z got Cano a big raise, but he got him an extra 30-day vacation -- and it's called October, Votes: 0

Hitting. That's what I enjoy most. Realistically, it's probably the hardest thing to do in all of sport. Think about it. You've got a round ball, a round bat, and the object is to hit it square. Votes: 0