19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

PETE ROSE'S QUEST
Sir:
Thank you, Rick Reilly, for an excellent article (On Deck For The Big Knock, Aug. 19) about an excellent athlete. It not only points out just how difficult it is to reach the plateau of 4,192 hits, but also goes to the heart of Pete Rose the man.

As a die-hard Reds fan, I enjoyed both that story and the one by Ivan Maisel (A Rose In The Bud) about Pete Jr. Thank you for making this issue a keeper.
DENNIS MCEWEN
Cooper City, Fla.

Sir:
Thanks for an informative and fascinating glimpse into the life of one of the game's greatest players. Rick Reilly should be congratulated for permitting us all to enter the world of a living legend. Pete has earned his "knocks," and regardless of how he is viewed by the public, no one can dispute the fact that he has reached this point in his career by simply being himself.
STEVEN ACHBER
Mesa, Ariz.

Sir:
While I greatly admire the contributions Pete Rose has made to baseball, I can only feel sorry for him. Pete's passion for the game to the exclusion of everything else (except, of course, "Fast cars, fast horses, a young wife") made disappointing reading.

Rose certainly fits the Biblical adage of someone obsessed with gain: "What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world [even the Big Knock, No. 4,192] and lose his soul?"
ROBIN JOYCE
Reno

Sir:
Great story on Pete Rose, a guy who has always given everything he had to the game. I have idolized Pete since I was a kid; I would open the sports page first thing every morning to see how he did.

Rose is right. It's hard to make comparisons with Ty Cobb, but I agree that Cobb would not hit .367 against today's pitchers. I don't consider the game of the early 1900s to be major league baseball.
MARTIN MEYERING
Litchfield, Minn.

Sir:
Nice story on Pete Rose. I am a committed Reds fan, and I'm grateful for what Pete has done to help Cincinnati in '85. But let's face it—this man has a tremendous ego problem.
SCOTT RUBIN
Kentwood, Mich.

COBB'S CORNER
Sir:
Congratulations to Robert W. Creamer for his invigorating story on Ty Cobb (The Firebrand That Was Cobb, Aug. 19).
BRIAN SANGER
Whitesboro, N.Y.

Sir:
Ty Cobb was a great golfer also.