Did Pete Rose Cross a Line in Harsh Criticism of Joey Gallo?
New York Yankees outfielder Joey Gallo is not a player without major flaws. Many fans of the Texas Rangers know from his time with the club that spans seven seasons. The two biggest complaints were his batting average and his high strikeout total.
Naturally, when Gallo was traded to the Big Apple, the level of criticism would sky rocket — and it did. It didn't take long for fans in the Bronx to start booing Gallo, and the 27-year-old slugger struggled in pinstripes, slashing .160/.303/.404/.707 with 13 home runs and 22 RBI in the 58 games after the trade.
His performance in the Yankees Wild Card Game in Boston was underwhelming as well, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
If we could contrive a cliché here, we'd say, "The bigger the stage, the harsher the criticism."
Now that criticism is coming from one of the most controversial names in the game's history.
Former Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose recently spoke with USA Today's Bob Nightengale about the Yankees' loss to the Red Sox. And he didn't hold back in his criticism of the Bronx Bombers, especially Gallo.
“That was the worst f–king lineup they could have put on the field,” Rose told Nightengale, per the New York Post. “Their 6, 7, 8, 9 hitters were all out-men. They had to have (Aaron) Judge and (Giancarlo) Stanton do something. If they didn’t, all of the pressure was on Joey Gallo. You saw how that worked out."
That's some stout criticism. But Rose wasn't done.
“How does someone who didn’t play every day strike out 213 times? Ray Charles wouldn’t strike out that much," Rose added. "I just can’t imagine striking out 213 times without killing myself.”
Even as hyperbole, mentioning suicide just to prove a point is...excessive.
Of course, this isn't Rose's first flirtation with controversy. As MLB's all-time hits leader, Rose has the credentials for a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection. Yet, he is banned for life from the National Baseball Hall of Fame for betting on games while he was a manager.
