guy definitely popularized it back in the 1970s.
Pete Rose was a favorite son of Cincinnati. He was born there, graduated from Cincinnati’s Western Hills High School, and broke into the Major Leagues with the hometown Reds in 1963 as a 21-year-old. All totaled, he spent 19 years with the Reds as a player and amassed four all-time MLB records: Games played (3,562), plate appearances (15,890), at bats (14,053), and hits (4,256). He also spent six total seasons as the club’s manager where he accumulated a record of 412-373-1.
Wrigley Field.
Of course, some might say Rose was a living embodiment of the prodigal son what with the July 3, 1989, Sports Illustrated expose on his gambling – including the allegations he wagered on the Reds and his subsequent banishment from baseball and Hall of Fame ban. You can read SI reporter Craig Neff’s account of how the story came together here.
Rose was an early proponent of the headfirst slide. In fact, when searching for photos of the man known as “Charlie Hustle” sliding, it’s a rare sight to find one of anything other than him hurtling himself through the air face first toward the base.
One of Rose’s most famous – or infamous – moments was one of the times he didn’t slide. That came during the 12th inning of the 1970 MLB All Star Game when he took out American League catcher Ray Fosse.
And that “Hendo” referred to in this week’s clue? It was Rickey Henderson, the MLB’s all-time stolen base leader who went head first into vast majority of his 1,406 bag swipes.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo below and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you by the early kickoff on Sunday.