Posts Tagged: Pete Rose

“Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out”

On October 5, 2024 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one of the greatest.

He wasn’t the greatest in terms of size. (I heard that, one time a coach in the minors told him he simply wasn’t big enough to ever make the majors.) Perhaps did not have the most innate talent. But he worked very hard. And I think it’s safe to say that he made the majors.

He was, in many ways, an inspiration to a lot of us. I still run to first base when I get a walk in softball. I have, however, pretty much given up on head-first slides—for now.

Another member of the senior softball league I play in, Wayne, wrote the following:

“My son wore #14 all during select baseball. I told him, ‘If I ever see you not hustle, you will take off your jersey and wear it inside out.’ He never had to do it.”

Now, I call myself a “Christ-follower”. Sometimes, I am more of a “Christ-stumbler”. But I am going to try to find a t-shirt that says something like “Jesus is King”, and every time I think, say, or do something that is un-Christlike, I am taking my personal #14 off and wearing it inside-out for at least an hour. Perhaps I’ll stumble less and follow more closely that way.

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