A Rose By the Same Name’s Just as Sweet

CINCINNATI —  Pete Rose spent a career pursuing Ty Cobb. His son has spent much of his life pursuing Pete Rose.

When Pete Rose Jr. made his major league debut for the Cincinnati Reds today, both chases were complete.

Petey, as he is known, started at third base and got to bat in the stadium where his father set baseball’s career hit mark. With Pete Rose watching from the first row next to the home dugout, Petey struck out swinging against Kansas City’s Kevin Appier in his first at-bat .

Petey went to the plate with one of his father’s black Mizuno bats, a gift he’s been saving since 1986 for just this occasion. He imitated his father’s batting crouch for the first pitch, then went into his normal spread stance.

The black bat fouled off two pitches before tipping a high fastball into Mike Macfarlane’s mitt for strike three.

Even before the at-bat, Petey had pronounced the day perfect.

“It’s already successful,” he said, shortly after putting on his father’s No. 14.

Pete arrived at the stadium 10 minutes before the first pitch and went to his seat.

“It would be nice to see him get a couple of hits today, win the game,” Pete said.

Petey got a standing ovation when he was introduced as part of the starting lineup. He jogged to third base, bent over and scribbled HK 4,256 in the dirt, a reference to his father’s career hit total.

As he did so, the Hit King himself, the man who made all of this entirely possible and absolutely necessary, was making his way to his seat.

It seemed hokey and a lot like Hollywood. It also felt exactly right. In a real sense, Petey’s debut wasn’t about baseball at all. It was about a relationship.

From his earliest years, Petey has lived in his father’s shadow -- sometimes happily, other times not. As a 1-year-old, he was featured on the cover of the Reds’ 1971 media guide, wearing a miniature uniform with No. 14.

When Pete was leading the Reds to World Series titles in 1975 and 1976, Petey was hanging around the clubhouse, playing catch with the other players’ sons.

When Pete stroked hit No. 4,192 on Sept. 11, 1985, to pass Cobb on the career hit list, Petey went on the field--wearing No. 14, of course--to hug his dad.

And when Pete went off to prison for tax evasion, Petey went there to visit. While Pete settled into his banishment from baseball for gambling, Petey settled into an unremarkable and, until now, unsatisfying career.

Petey finally got his call-up at age 27. By that age, Pete had won NL rookie of the year honors (at age 22) and the first of his three batting titles.

Pete was obsessed by baseball; Petey is dedicated to it. Pete lined single after single out of his low, closed batting crouch; Petey struggled to hit in the low minors out of a spread stance.

Pete wanted to be the first million-dollar singles hitter; Petey wanted the chance to get a single in the major leagues. Pete wanted to be the greatest hitter of all time; Petey just wanted his time.

Pete has survived a broken marriage, a prison sentence and the lifetime ban from baseball; Petey has lived with the fallout.

When Petey visited Riverfront Stadium during a break from ball a few years ago, he was invited into the manager’s office and sat down in a chair below a framed picture of Cobb, a lasting memento of his father’s famous chase. He told horror stories about constant taunting in the minors for his dad’s problems.

“One guy in the stands waved a dollar bill at me and said, ‘Bet you can’t get a hit,”’ Petey said.

Petey stuck with baseball for a different reason. He wasn’t chasing a record or a million-dollar paycheck. In his own way, he was pursuing his dad.

“If you want to know the truth,” he said, “that’s what this baseball dream is all about--what I keep working so hard for, and why I want it so bad. When you get down to it, I’m like any other son. I just want to make my dad proud of me.”