Is There Anybody Else Quite Like Pete Rose?

In reading Will Leitch’s review of “Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball” by Keith O’Brien (Books, March 23), one is reminded of the incredible statistical performance of Mr. Rose. An everyday player, playing in almost every one of 162 games can expect to have about 600 at-bats a year. A player would need to then get 180 hits a year for a batting average of .300. Essentially, those three measures (at-bats, hits and average) placed Mr. Rose at the top of the National League for an incredible period exceeding two decades.

Mr. Rose’s career total of 4,256 hits required an average of an astonishing 200 hits a year, for 21-and-a-half years. On top of that, Mr. Rose helped two franchises, the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies, win World Series titles.