I’ll be the first to admit that I not a big sports fan. However, I have had my moments. I was a fan of this guy. He was a great athlete and set a lot of records during his career.

And then he fell.

Life is about choices and sometimes we make bad ones. Pete did. He was found guilty and sentenced to prison.

Still, that doesn’t negate the fact that he was a great baseball player and should have been in the hall of fame years ago.

Water under the bridge.

Several years back I was walking through a mall in Vegas and what to my surprise I looked over and saw Pete Rose sitting inside a store.

My son-in-law said, “Now’s your chance to meet him!” So I walked in and we struck up a conversation.

He asked me where I was from and I replied, “Oh, you wouldn’t know the place. It’s a small town in Western Kentucky called Paducah.”

Pete looks at me and says, “Heck yeah I know where Paducah is! When I was in prison my family used to fly into Paducah when they came to visit me.”

I said, “Gosh, it really is a small world, isn’t it.”

He laughed and we sat there and talked a little bit longer before I had to leave.

I’m glad I stopped. He really was a nice guy.

RIP Pete.

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Rick Algood
October 1, 2024