Jim Fulner reviewed Play Hungry by Pete Rose
Pete Rose was an arrogant, racist, liar.
2 stars
If you are a young ballplayer who wants to know some insight in how to make the big leagues, how to keep getting better, etc. this book may be of some value to you. For the rest of us...Rose goes way out of the way to show he's "not racist" which is only something that racists do. He lies about "I don't see color." Even if you are legally color blind you can look at someone and notice their skin tone. He went out of his way to talk repeatedly about how winning is everything, while that in of himself makes him a jerk, it feels like he is using that to back up his claim that he never bet against the Reds. My perception of his arrogance may h ave been influenced by the condescending tone the narrator used, but I have a feeling that is completely intentional and …
If you are a young ballplayer who wants to know some insight in how to make the big leagues, how to keep getting better, etc. this book may be of some value to you. For the rest of us...Rose goes way out of the way to show he's "not racist" which is only something that racists do. He lies about "I don't see color." Even if you are legally color blind you can look at someone and notice their skin tone. He went out of his way to talk repeatedly about how winning is everything, while that in of himself makes him a jerk, it feels like he is using that to back up his claim that he never bet against the Reds. My perception of his arrogance may h ave been influenced by the condescending tone the narrator used, but I have a feeling that is completely intentional and approved by Rose. He ends the book complaining like an old man about how much stuff that was great in his day sucks now, including that now there are too many baseball teams, that the world series was better when all games were afternoon games we couldn't watch because we were at work/school and above all how great his son Pete Jr. was at baseball and no one ever game him a break. His earlier autobiographies may have been better, but I don't care enough to find out, their descriptions actually sound worse.