The story of Ray Fosse and Pete Rose doesn’t just come down to one play. It’s about two people who had totally different lives but whose names are entangled with one another in the history books.
At the climax of the 1970 All-Star Game, Rose bowled over catcher Fosse to score the winning run, as the National League triumphed, 5-4, in twelve innings. For Fosse? He would suffer a fractured and separated shoulder, which never healed properly. The nagging injury continued to plague him throughout the rest of his career. Although he would still be relatively successful as a big leaguer, he was never quite the same player after the incident. All because Charlie Hustle didn’t know when to downshift in the middle of a meaningless exhibition game.
Rose would go on to become baseball’s all-time hits leader in 1985, breaking Ty Cobb’s record of 4,191. Fosse would be traded to Oakland, where he won two World Series titles. He also played briefly with the Seattle Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers. Later, Fosse returned to Oakland and became the longtime color commentator for the Athletics’ television and radio coverage.
But numbers and accolades don’t really tell their story. The two men went down two very different paths in their lives outside of the game.
Ray Fosse was a Small Town Hero
A young George Brett, wearing the Royals road blues, looks to the plate umpire for his call, with Ray Fosse catching in the Indians' all-red uniform. And it looks like there are plenty of good seats available at Cleveland Stadium. pic.twitter.com/W1P9tDYrRt
— 1974 Baseball Tweets (@1974Baseball) December 10, 2020
Ray Fosse grew up in Marion, a community in deep southern Illinois – not far from the Indiana and Kentucky borders. He starred at Marion High School in three different sports: Basketball, football, and (of course) baseball. He was a standout athlete and planned to play for Southern Illinois University, but he was taken by the then-Cleveland Indians in the 1965 MLB Draft.
It was the first draft ever held, and Ray Fosse became the very first player ever selected by the team. He signed with the franchise at 18, when most kids his age were getting ready to attend college or join the military. Within two years, he was already in the big leagues.
Fosse won two gold gloves in 1970 and 1971. He also caught Dennis Eckersley’s no-hitter in 1977 (back when Eck was still a starting pitcher), and he’s credited with being great in how he dealt with pitchers. He was never a major offensive threat, but his defense and ability to call a game were unmatched.
In a 12-year MLB career, Fosse played in 924 games, posting a .256 career batting average with 61 home runs and 324 runs batted in. The baseball field in his hometown of Marion is now named after this favorite son and local legend.
Ray Fosse passed away on October 13, 2021, at the age of 74.
The A’s honored him in pregame ceremonies in acknowledgment of his contributions to the franchise.
Pete Rose Went From Hero to Heel
Pete Rose collides into Ray Fosse during the 1970 All Star game pic.twitter.com/nPUcULT43h
— Baseball In Pics (@baseballinpix) February 15, 2022
As has been well documented, Pete Rose was a star known chiefly for his long tenures with the Reds. He was part of the ‘Big Red Machine’ of the 1970s, which won four NL Pennants and back-to-back World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. After stints with Philadelphia (where he captured another championship ring) and Montreal, he returned to the Queen City in 1984 to be the club’s player-manager.
A year later, Rose broke Cobb’s hit record while the nation watched in awe of his accomplishment.
From there, Rose became the face of baseball for a handful of years – a true living legend. People clamored for his baseball cards and any memorabilia that commemorated his achievements. And needless to say, he held an almost god-like stature in Cincinnati. Unfortunately for the hit king, it wouldn’t last forever.
In 1989, MLB Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti dropped the hammer on Charlie Hustle after overwhelming evidence emerged that Pete Rose had bet on baseball. He was alleged to have gambled on his own team’s games while he was the manager. After weeks of denial, Rose signed a five-page agreement with Giamatti in which he agreed to a lifetime penalty while still not admitting to gambling on baseball. Years later, he would admit to many of the allegations in an attempt to be reinstated. But even today, he remains on baseball’s ineligible list.
In somewhat of a baseball exodus, Pete Rose was banned from the Hall of Fame and shut out for years from attending special MLB events. In 1990, he pled guilty to two charges of filing false income tax returns that did not show income he received from selling autographs and memorabilia. The charges also cited money he didn’t report from gambling winnings.
Rose would be sentenced to five months in a medium security prison camp and fined $50,000.
Ironically enough, he would serve his sentence in Marion, Illinois… the hometown of Ray Fosse.
Perhaps that was fate’s ultimate payback for that vicious play in 1970.
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Ryan K Boman is the author of the 2023 book, Pop Music & Peanut Butter: A Collection of Essays about Embracing Life with Laughter & Love. His previous work has appeared at The Miami Herald, SB Nation, Bounding into Sports, and Yardbarker. Follow him on social media @RyanKBoman.
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