TML: Taking on Pete and the 'Cats

So my editor (or strategist as it's called now) asked me to do something fun. Given my life lately has been the intersection of money, politics and sports, I thought that entering the TML ring for a second time would fit nicely. And this time, I come to take on two of the largest sports icons in the area – Pete Rose and the UK Wildcats.

First off, yes, I am the guy who wrote the two deep-dive pieces into Pete Rose and the Dowd Report that we published Sunday and Monday. And while I'm not going to get into the debate as to whether baseball's all-time hits leader should be reinstated and considered for the Hall of Fame, I do want to explain why we chose to do the series and a few pieces of color around it.

The editors came to me last Tuesday immediately after Pete said he was applying once again for reinstatement, and new MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he would consider it. But in that statement, Manfred made a key point: he was going to review the Dowd report.

So they asked me to do the same and see exactly what was in there. After all, a lot of folks who visit our site were either still in diapers or were only a twinkle in their parents eye when John Dowd spent 3-4 months digging into Pete Rose and his circle of "friends."

I immediately made two phone calls to former reporters here, including former sports writer John Erardi and former metro/business reporter John Eckberg. As I was struggling to find anything beyond the original 225-page Dowd report, they told me I didn't need to look far.

Turns out we had kept all the hard copies in a mail bin on a shelf in the back of our library (also affectionately known in newspaper language as the "morgue.") After spending two days reading a LOT of documents, and spending nearly two hours apiece with John Dowd, Paul Janzsen and Tommy Gioiosa, we were able to present our stories. (Yes we did try to give Rose and his folks a chance to respond. We even flew my fellow reporter John Faherty out to Las Vegas to try and snag an interview – no go.)

Here's a picture:

Here are the links to all three stories:

Day One - Pete's life in Vegas

Day Two - The mob, cocaine and Pete; what's really in the Dowd report

Day Three - Donuts and a Catholic school; how the investigation went down

And I have a thank you to you, dear readers. I did get a lot of email on the stories as you can imagine. But much to my surprise, none tried to shoot the messenger, which my friends warned was a real possibility (my wife was worried about slashed tires.) But folks kept it civil. And it really was 50/50 when it came to Pete's situation itself. Some folks said that the report helped remind them how bad it had gotten. Others say Dowd and Giamatti were out to "get" Pete come heck or high water. And some acknowledged never having known the facts of the case.

As for whether my views on whether Pete belongs in baseball or in the Hall of Fame, I never really had an opinion one way or the other, and still don't. I really enjoy the Reds, and think he was a great player (I'm a Red Sox fan by blood and birth). After reading all that stuff and talking to those involved, I can say that the case is tragic and does indeed show how insidious the illicit money had become in the clubhouse.

But remember this; the eight players who were banned for life after the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal have never been let back in, admittedly for throwing the World Series to the Reds. So if you let Pete back in, you have to let Shoeless Joe Jackson and the rest back in too, right?

A quick aside ... I used to be a sportswriter. And the day I got my first taste of the scandal – and my first opportunity as a pro journalist – was the day Bart Giamatti banned Pete. I had an appointment to interview with Cincinnati Post sports editor Mark Tomasik on Aug. 24, 1989, when all hell broke loose. Guys were making flight reservations to fly to Minnesota, where Pete was going on QVC to hawk something. Others were flying off to New York and North Carolina, where Pete Jr. was a minor-league ball player. I remember thinking "is it always like this?"

Tomasik still gave me 10 minutes. I wound up covering high school football that fall, and turned that opportunity into my first full-time sportswriting gig in Savannah, Ga. Forever thankful and still wide-eyed remembering that day.

The University of Kentucky Wildcats continued their historic run by thrashing West Virginia last night. But as influential they have been on the court, they are equally so down in Kentucky's state capitol of Frankfort.

My current day job includes covering the Kentucky General Assembly, which just finished up its session this week. And take this as gospel from first-hand experience, hoops rule down there.

I can't tell you how many times I saw tickets change hands (all 138 legislators and senators are given a handful of tickets for home games at Rupp Arena in Lexington, less than an hour away). Those things were like currency, although I am not here to say they were used to buy votes, and everything I saw was perfectly legal. Still, it was a sign of how much UK is really the state's pro team.

There also were several times when I know for a fact (although can't put in names) that meetings were cut short to end the day to allow legislators time to make the drive to Rupp. One such meeting was the Democratic House caucus meeting at the beginning of the session when members elected their own leaders. Several inside told me folks were looking at their watches and rushed their votes to get out on time for the game that night.

Now for the fun stuff ... Beer, TV and tunes

Hey craft beer snobs (like me!) please don't kill me for liking a product owned by InBev AB (Anheuser-Busch). But I just can't get enough of Goose Island's Ten Hills Pale Ale these last few months. Just the right amount of hops and a bit of sweetness. My wife, normally not a hop head, loves the stuff. I've been grabbing up all I can find at Kroger, which has it on sale for just over seven bucks a sixer. Get it while you can.

Other brews of choice lately include West Sixth's Pay It Forward Cocoa Porter (a great beer by a Kentucky brewery out of Lexington – and yes, I wrote about beer and politics this year too). In addition to getting a great beer, you give to a great cause. West Sixth gives 50 cents from every six-pack to one of several charities in the state.

And a new brewery in Lexington's old distillery district called Ethereal has some great Belgians, including their Abbadon Golden Strong Ale, which packs a punch at 8.0 percent alcohol by volume, making it dangerous as you certainly don't taste it. Worth a trip, as the atmosphere is cool and they have great food trucks out there every night.

Quick TV talk ...

So the X-Files is coming back. As the Mrs. says, hope it is better than the last movie. One of my five all-time favorite TV shows. Would stay home on Fridays to watch.

"Game of Thrones" is coming back in two weeks (anyone have an HBO Go pass they are willing to share?) The show's producers acknowledged recently they will spill the beans on the ending before the books by George R.R. Martin are done. That almost makes me want to stick with the printed page. I'm almost done with Book 3.

Can't wait until the new "Daredevil" series on Netflix, although I will say I thought the third season of "House of Cards" was a bit underwhelming.

And finally, I loved the Batman prequel "Gotham," but have been way too busy to catch up. Was about to start the mini-arc when they introduce Scarecrow and then possibly the Joker. Anyone see it and is it worth keeping up with?

Summertime tunes ...

I am so looking forward to the Bunbury Festival this June. Sure the headliners of The Black Keys, the Avett Brothers and Snoop Dogg got the big news. But there are some majorly great acts down the bill that you oughta check out, beginning with ... Royal Blood. The English duo has blasted onto the scene with its self-titled debut. And given the dearth of really good hard rock bands lately, the reaction isn't surprising. These guys are a mix of Metallica and Kings of Leon. Cannot wait to see them live.

On the other end of the spectrum is country songstress Kacey Musgraves out of my dad's hometown of Sulphur Springs, Texas. She's cut out of the same anti-establishment old-school country as Sturgill Simpson, singing sweetly about hard life and talking about drugs, infidelity and other stuff that usually doesn't make it out of the Nashville hit mill.

And organizers announced earlier this month that local mainstays Wussy and "country-punk" band 500 Miles to Memphis will also be playing (you need to check out 500MTM's cover of Johnny Cash's cover of the Nine Inch Nails classic "Hurt.") Wussy was featured on CBS recently. I was worried about the transition of ownership of the festival ... no more.

Well, that's it for me Mobsters. Thanks for letting me play once again.

Let's close with one of my favorite tunes from Bunbury headliner The Black Keys (from a few albums ago) ... "Howlin' for You." (I probably shouldn't link to the official video as it is VERY NSFW and includes the same woman who played the blonde Cylon Number 6 in another of my favorite shows in history Battlestar Galactica. But let's just say it is not hard to find).

Here's the lyrics only version: