One of the most enduring nicknames in professional sports history,
"Charlie Hustle" conjures up those dominating Cincinnati Reds teams,
"The Big Red Machine", of which Pete Rose was an anchor along with
Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Joe Morgan.
Take a look at my newest "Nicknames of the '70's" card design:
Growing up in the 1970's as a baseball nut, Pete Rose was an almost
mythic figure. Even though his Reds steamrolled through "my" Yankees in
the 1976 World Series, Rose, along with his all-star teammates, seemed
like something made-up, not real.
I guess a part of that could be that the very first Pete Rose
baseball card I ever saw, at the age of seven, was his 1976 Topps
masterpiece, which had that glare of his, staring down the camera,
showing that intensity that created the "Charlie Hustle"
legend.
What a player, a Hall of Fame player. But I won't get into THAT here.
The "Player of the Decade" for the 1970's, Rose etched his name into the history of the game many times over.
Really, along with guys like Tom Seaver and Reggie Jackson, you just can't have too many Pete Rose cards from the 1970's in my eyes.
