Ep. 5: "Pete Rose v. the World" (PART ONE). Alex tackles the life and career of baseball's all-time hits leader, Cincinnati's own Pete Rose. This two-part episode follows his rise from obscurity on the Queen City's West Side to 20th Century sports icon and his spectacular fall that leads to his banishment from baseball for gambling.

Part One covers Rose childhood and unlikely ascension to MLB MVP and World Series Champion for the Cincinnati Reds, his hometown team. We sit down with New York Times bestselling author Keith O'Brien to discuss his excellent new book Charlie Hustle: the Rise and Fall of Pete Rose and the Last Glory Days of Baseball (2024). O'Brien interviewed Rose himself and almost everyone that knew him during those years of the '60s, '70s and '80s in his critically-acclaimed sports biography. We discuss Rose's unlikely baseball career and in Part 1 follow his making the Cincinnati Reds in 1963 and winning Rookie of The Year to his notorious winning moment at home plate during the 1970 MLB All-Star Game. Keith details Rose and Big Red Machine's rise to the top of baseball and foreshadows problems to come for Charlie Hustle and his issues with sports gambling. Link below to buy Ketih's book.

Chris Eckes, Director of Operations/Chief Curator of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, joins the show to talk about the history of the Cincinnati Reds. We talk about why the Reds are considered the oldest professional baseball team in the MLB and Rose's childhood on the West Side of Cincinnati. Eckes takes our audience through the 1970, 1972 and 1975 World Series appearances by Rose and the Big Red Machine. We also discuss the offensive juggernaut that was "the Great Eight" lineup of the Big Red Machine of 1970-1978. Link below to visit the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, located on site at Great American Ball Park. Highly recommend visiting their large museum space next time you're in Downtown Cincinnati.

Part TWO OF "Pete Rose v. the World" is out next Tuesday June 11th.

Where to buy Charlie Hustle: https://keithob.com/purchase

Visit the Reds HOF & Museum here: https://www.mlb.com/reds/hall-of-fame

Contact the show at ohiovtheworld@gmail.com or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Check out the Evergreen Podcast Network for Ohio v. the World and hundreds of other great podcasts here www.evergreenpodcasts.com

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