DISCLAIMER: I am not celebrating Pete Rose. Gambling aside, he’s still not good. But I did come across this story and felt it needed to be told.
The Phillies won the NL East in 1976, 77, and 78, but they kept losing in the NLCS. They were led by Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Greg Luzinski, and Larry Bowa. Management felt they were one player short though and set out to fix that. In a time at the dawn of MLB free agency, talent was more available than ever, but it was expensive. The Carpenter family thought getting the right guy simply wasn’t realistic because they thought the right guy was Pete Rose.
Tuesday, July 7 at 7:10p – Zack Wheeler vs Andrew Abbott (L)
Great American Ballpark – Cincinnati, OH
Wednesday, July 8 at 7p – TBA vs Chase Burns (R)
Thursday, July 9 at 7:10p – Jesus Luzardo v Brady Singer (R)
At that point, Rose was now a two time World Series champion, had over 3000 hits, and was still pumping out .300+ average seasons like they were nothing. He was also 37 years old and wanted the big pay day that had eluded him in a career mostly dictated by the now eliminated Reserve Clause. Cincinnati made it clear both now and in previous dealings that they were not going to pay him. Still, his market was robust and motivated. How motivated? Check out these offers…
- Atlanta Braves: Pete Rose was known as a showman and so was new Braves owner Ted Turner. He didn’t just like to have money, he liked to be the guy to spend it. For that reason, he didn’t beat around the bush. He wanted to be the guy to give out the first $1m per season contract and he wanted Rose to be the guy. He’d throw in an Allen Iverson type kicker too: $100k per year for life.
- Kansas City Royals: The AL version of the Phillies at the time were the Royals with 3 straight ALCS losses. Rose was going to be the guy to put them over the top. If Ted Turner was offering $1m per season, they’d match it. They could go better than $100k for life though. How about a goddamn oil field?
- St. Louis Cardinals: At the time, there was owners with money and then there was Gussie Busch, the patriarch of the Anhuiser-Busch family and fortune. Despite famously being thrifty when it came to ballplayers (like Steve Carlton), he offered the world to Rose including a ton of salary, extra cash as an AB spokesman, and even a beer distributorship. Is that better than an oil field? In terms of up front cash and lack of effort, it probably was.
- Pittsburgh Pirates: Of course, in a bidding war, it’s good to know who you are dealing with. Rose didn’t drink beer and he wasn’t from Texas. He was, however, already a known gambler. Pittsburgh’s ownership at the time, John and Dan Galbreath, not only knew what Rose liked but just happened to have a thoroughbred mare that they were ready to give him. The horse has a Triple Crown pedigree.
Well, despite having DuPont money, it looked like the Phillies were out before they even had a chance to bid. They were not going to be the team that broke the $1m barrier and didn’t have anything to offer on the side. Still, Ruly Carpenter and Bill Giles met with Rose. Their offer was 3/$2.1m. That wasn’t going to cut it.
What Carpenter and Giles had that the other owners didn’t though was a love and understanding of baseball. As they took Rose to the airport, the two talked up the opportunity to play with his friends (Bowa and Luzinski), being the reason that the Phillies would win their first championship, and most importantly he could stay in the NL and be the All-Time NL leader in hits. They even took out a physical copy of the record book and showed him where he stood in the annals of history. They dropped him off at the airport and moved on.
Rose didn’t though. He really liked that record book, but also really didn’t want to take that kind of haircut. His agent told Carpenter and Giles that Rose wanted to come, but they needed to sweeten the offer some. To get the extra cash, they called up their broadcast partner and renegotiated their deal for an extra $600k per season to specifically sign Rose. It was a deal. The Phillies signed Rose to a very specific $805k per season for 4 years. Why $805k? Because David Thompson of the NBA was their highest paid at $800k. Rose had to break some kind of record.
Upon announcing the deal, ticket sales went nuts. The 1979 team drew a record 2.8m fans. They got worse though! The 1978 Phillies went 90-72 but they slumped to 85-78 in 1979 and missed the playoffs. Of course, the Phillies finally broke through in 1980, ironically beating the Royals in the World Series. While 1980 was one of his most pedestrian seasons overall, Rose would hit .326 in the playoffs including 3 hits in the Championship clinching Game 6.
Story: Lords of the Realm
Photo: AP
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