Pete Rose - Almost a Brave (twice)
The Atlanta Braves could have had Pete Rose – twice.
And as we celebrate Rose’s 79 birthday on Tuesday, it’s worth looking back on those two almost-signings for the Braves.
First, in 1979 Rose was still considered one of the best players in baseball, even at 37 years old. He had played for the Cincinnati Reds for 16 years and was an All-Star in 12 of those seasons.
The Big Red Machine was eventually going to fall apart, and Rose’s free agent status was the first piece to crumble. He had hit .302 in 1978 with a .362 on base percentage, with 198 hits and a league-leading 51 doubles and 731 at bats.
That season included a 44-game hitting streak, which was stopped in Atlanta by Braves pitchers Larry McWilliams and Gene Garber. Rose wasn’t too happy how Garber had acted after stopping the streak, but Garber was likely more excited that the hapless Braves had beat the Reds, which didn’t happen often in the 1970s.
The Braves were 69-93 in 1978. They had a promising first baseman in Dale Murphy, and their top pick in the draft Bob Horner had immediately come up and won the Rookie of the Year award. Other prospects, like Glenn Hubbard and Bruce Benedict, had also made their MLB debuts that season.
Owner Ted Turner had just started putting the Braves on his cable station, WTCG, which would soon become WTBS. He wanted the team to play better to improve ratings and ad revenues. Getting a star to add to his young nucleus made sense to Turner.
So, the Braves were one of five teams that made Rose an offer. The Phillies, Cardinals, Pirates and Royals were the others. Turner flew Rose to Atlanta and, according to a Sports Illustrated report in 1979, offered him $1 million per year for “three years, four years, five years, whatever you want.”
Evidently, reports show the Braves believed Rose was ready to sign. The Sporting News wrote, “a major network and a wire service columnist reported Rose was headed to the Braves. Team officials in Orlando for the winter meetings had Rose’s statistics printed upon the club’s letterhead and another member of the front office staff flew from Atlanta to Orlando with a Braves jersey and cap for Rose to wear at the signing.”
Rose didn’t sign with the Braves, later saying, “There were five bids, and I took the lowest one.”
He had been longtime friends with Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa and Greg Luzinski, three prominent members of the Phillies. Plus, Philadelphia had just won the NL East three straight seasons but had lost each year in the LCS. They were a team close to a championship, and Rose loved to win.
So, he chose the Phillies, who finished fourth in the NL East in his first season, but a year later Rose would help them win their first World Series title.
Then, Rose left the Phillies after his contract was up following the 1983 season. The Phillies had lost in the World Series to the Orioles, and Rose was now 42 years old. His batting average had declined to .245 in that final Phillies season. He couldn’t run anymore, and the 1982 season had been his last decent year.
The Braves had improved by then, winning the 1982 NL West title and finishing second in 1983. The young players had matured into stars, and the team still had a lot of young talent coming up.
However, the Braves had traded Brett Butler at the end of the 1983 season to open a spot in left field. Rose had played left field with the Reds, but there were questions about whether he could still play the outfield at his age.
Rose’s agent contacted the Braves, but the interest was no longer mutual. The Braves believed they had internal candidates to replace Butler in left field. They liked Gerald Perry, Brad Komminsk, Milt Thompson, Albert Hall and Terry Harper, so they did not want Rose.
Plus, the Braves had just let Phil Niekro, then 45 years old, walk away as a free agent. It wouldn’t have made sense to sign a 43-year old to play left field when they had that much younger talent already on the roster.
Rose instead signed with the Montreal Expos, and then in August of 1984 was traded back to the Reds where he finished his historic player career and also took over as Cincinnati’s manager.
We all know what happened after that. Rose was suspended for life in 1989 for gambling on baseball. He’s still serving that suspension today.
It would have been something if Charlie Hustle had played in Atlanta, but it never happened.
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