
Charlie Hustle
The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball
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Narrated by:
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Ellen Adair
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Keith O'Brien
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By:
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Keith O'Brien
About this listen
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • Longlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
A captivating chronicle of the incredible story of one of America’s most iconic, charismatic, and still polarizing figures—baseball immortal Pete Rose—and an exquisite cultural history of baseball and America in the second half of the twentieth century • "Comprehensive, compulsively readable and wholly terrific."—The Wall Street Journal
"Long before the inquiry into Ohtani's ties to betting, there was Pete Rose....Charlie Hustle chronicles one of the most polarizing figures in sports."—NPR, All Things Considered
“Baseball biography at its best. With Charlie Hustle, Pete Rose finally gets the book he deserves, and baseball fans get the book we’ve been craving, a hard-hitting, beautifully-written tale that will stand for years to come as the definitive account of one of the most fascinating figures in American sports history.”—Jonathan Eig, New York Times bestselling author of King: A Life
Pete Rose is a legend. A baseball god. He compiled more hits than anyone in the history of baseball, a record he set decades ago that still stands today. He was a working-class white guy from Cincinnati who made it; less talented than tough, and rough around the edges. He was everything that America wanted and needed him to be, the American dream personified, until he wasn’t.
In the 1980s, Pete Rose came to be at the center of one of the biggest scandals in baseball history. He kept secrets, ran with bookies, took on massive gambling debts, and he was magnificently, publicly cast out for betting on baseball and lying about it. The revelations that followed ruined him, changed life in Cincinnati, and forever altered the game.
Charlie Hustle tells the full story of one of America’s most epic tragedies—the rise and fall of Pete Rose. Drawing on firsthand interviews with Rose himself and with his associates, as well as on investigators' reports, FBI and court records, archives, a mountain of press coverage, Keith O’Brien chronicles how Rose fell so far from being America’s “great white hope.” It is Pete Rose as we've never seen him before.
This is no ordinary sport biography, but cultural history at its finest. What O’Brien shows is that while Pete Rose didn’t change, America and baseball did. This is the story of that change.
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Critic reviews
Longlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post
"O'Brien's narrative gain[s] impressive authority from the depth of [its] research. . . . A thorough account of one of the most fascinating rags-to-riches-to-infamy sagas of twentieth-century celebrityhood at a time when baseball was central to America's story writ large." —The New Yorker
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Story
Baseball’s most outspoken fireballer brings the high heat—calling out the hacks, cheats, and ridiculous rules that have tarnished the game—and pitches A-plus stuff on how to make baseball pure, fun, and damn near perfect.
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Very good book on why baseball is a great game
- By LSmith on 04-18-25
By: Joe Kelly, and others
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The Last of His Kind
- Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness
- By: Andy McCullough
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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More than any baseball player of his generation, Clayton Kershaw has embodied the burden of athletic greatness, the prizes and perils that await those who strive for it all. He is a three-time Cy Young award winner, the first pitcher to win National League MVP since Bob Gibson, and a surefire, first-ballot Hall of Famer. Many of his peers consider him the greatest pitcher to ever climb atop a big-league mound.
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Last of his kind is one of a kind
- By Anonymous User on 01-28-25
By: Andy McCullough
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Yogi
- A Life Behind the Mask
- By: Jon Pessah
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 21 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Lawrence "Yogi" Berra was never supposed to become a major league ballplayer. That's what his immigrant father told him. That's what Branch Rickey told him, too—right to Berra's face, in fact. Even the lowly St. Louis Browns of his youth said he'd never make it in the big leagues. Yet baseball was his lifeblood. It was the only thing he ever cared about. Heck, it was the only thing he ever thought about.
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"YOGI BERRA HITS A GRAND SLAM!"
- By USA VETERAN on 05-15-20
By: Jon Pessah
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Ball Four
- The Final Pitch
- By: Jim Bouton
- Narrated by: Jim Bouton
- Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold and a “social leper” for having violated the “sanctity of the clubhouse.” Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn’t true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn’t read it, denounced the book. It was even banned by a few libraries. Almost everyone else, however, loved Ball Four.
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Three Ten Year Updates Give Bouton a 5th Star
- By Byron on 08-09-12
By: Jim Bouton
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Why We Love Baseball
- A History in 50 Moments
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Joe Posnanski, Ellen Adair
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times bestselling author Joe Posnanski is back with a masterful ode to the game: a countdown of 50 of the most memorable moments in baseball’s history, to make you fall in love with the sport all over again. Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays’s catch, Babe Ruth’s called shot, and Kirk Gibson’s limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters.
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Narration
- By Peter on 01-10-24
By: Joe Posnanski
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The Inside Game
- Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves
- By: Keith Law
- Narrated by: Rhett Samuel Price
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In this groundbreaking book, Keith Law, the ESPN baseball writer and author of the acclaimed Smart Baseball, offers an era-spanning dissection of some of the best and worst decisions in modern baseball, explaining what motivated them, what can be learned from them, and how their legacy has shaped the game....
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Narrator is negative value compared to replacement
- By Daniel W. Franzen on 11-28-20
By: Keith Law
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The Book of Joe
- Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life
- By: Joe Maddon, Tom Verducci
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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No one sees baseball like Joe Maddon. He sees it through his trademark glasses and irrepressible wit. Raised in the “shot and beer” town of Hazleton, PA, and forged by 15 years in the minors, Maddon over 19 seasons in Tampa Bay, Chicago, and Anaheim has become one of the most successful, most colorful, and most quoted managers in Major League Baseball. He is a workplace culture expert, having engineered two of the most stunning turnarounds in the past quarter century.
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Typical Joe
- By BG on 01-21-25
By: Joe Maddon, and others
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The Tao of the Backup Catcher
- Playing Baseball for the Love of the Game
- By: Tim Brown, Erik Kratz - contributor
- Narrated by: Justin Price, Tim Brown
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In baseball there are superstars and stars and everyday players and then there are the rest. Within the rest are role players and specialists and journeymen and then there are the backup catchers. The Tao of the Backup Catcher is about them, the backup catchers, who exist near the bottom of the roster and the end of the bench and between the numbers in a sport–and a society–increasingly driven by cold, hard analytics.
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So disappointing
- By Mark on 08-01-23
By: Tim Brown, and others
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The Last Manager
- How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball
- By: John W. Miller
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Long before the Moneyball Era, the Earl of Baltimore reigned over baseball. History’s feistiest and most colorful manager, Earl Weaver transformed the sport by collecting and analyzing data in visionary ways, ultimately winning more games than anybody else during his time running the Orioles from 1968 to 1982. When Weaver was hired by the Orioles, managers were still seen as coaches and inspirational leaders, more teachers of the game than strategists. Weaver invented new ways of building baseball teams, prioritizing on-base average, elite defense, and strike throwing.
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THE EARL OF BALTIMORE... ALWAYS A TREAT!
- By USA VETERAN on 03-21-25
By: John W. Miller
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The New York Game
- Baseball and the Rise of a New City
- By: Kevin Baker
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 19 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Baseball is “the New York game” because New York is where the diamond was first laid out, where the bunt and the curveball were invented, and where the home run was hit. It’s where the game’s first stars were born, and where everyone came to play or watch the game. With nuance and depth, historian Kevin Baker brings this all vividly back to life: the still-controversial, indelible moments—Did the Babe call his shot? Was Merkle out? Did they fix the 1919 World Series? Here are all the legendary players, managers, and owners, in all their vivid, complicated humanity, on and off the field.
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Sure.. Baseball… but so much more!
- By RAY MONTECALVO on 08-25-24
By: Kevin Baker
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The 1998 Yankees
- The Inside Story of the Greatest Baseball Team Ever
- By: Jack Curry
- Narrated by: Jack Curry
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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The visiting clubhouse in San Diego was soggy, sweaty and sticky after the 1998 Yankees swept the Padres in four games and celebrated winning their 24th World Series title. The players raised bottles of Champagne, sprayed the bubbly on each other and reveled in a baseball season that might have been more memorable than any in history. Jack Curry was part of that unforgettable scene as a reporter, navigating around the clubhouse to ask the same, pertinent question.
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Brings You Right Back
- By Smuckers on 04-25-25
By: Jack Curry
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Play Hungry
- The Making of a Baseball Player
- By: Pete Rose
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Pete Rose was a legend on the field. As baseball’s hit king, he shattered records that were thought to be unbreakable. And during the 1970s, he was the leader of the Big Red Machine, the Cincinnati Reds team that dominated the game. But he’s also the greatest player who may never enter the Hall of Fame because of his lifetime ban from the sport. Perhaps no other ballplayer’s story is so representative of the triumphs and tragedies of our national pastime.
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Great Book
- By Joel on 12-11-21
By: Pete Rose
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Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning
- 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
- By: Jonathan Mahler
- Narrated by: Kyle Tait
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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By early 1977, New York City was in the grip of hysteria caused by a murderer dubbed "Son of Sam". And on a sweltering night in July, a citywide power outage touched off an orgy of looting and arson that led to the largest mass arrest in the city's history. As the turbulent year wore on, the city became absorbed in two epic battles: the fight between Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo for the city's mayoralty.
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Excellent
- By pp on 04-22-21
By: Jonathan Mahler
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The Captain
- The Journey of Derek Jeter
- By: Ian O'Connor
- Narrated by: Nick Pollifrone
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Every spring, Little Leaguers across the country mimic his stance and squabble over the right to wear his number, 2, the next number to be retired by the world’s most famous ball team. Derek Jeter is their hero. He walks in the footsteps of Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Mantle, and someday his shadow will loom just as large. Yet he has never been the best player in baseball. In fact, he hasn’t always been the best player on his team. But his intangible grace and Jordanesque ability to play big in the biggest of postseason moments make him the face of the modern Yankee dynasty, and of America’s game.
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Great book, terrible narrator.
- By Butter on 05-09-14
By: Ian O'Connor
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The Arm
- Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Thing in Sports
- By: Jeff Passan
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Yahoo's lead baseball columnist offers an in-depth look at the most valuable commodity in sports - the pitching arm - and how its vulnerability to injury is hurting players and the game, from Little League to the majors.
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A MUST READ for every youth baseball parent and coach
- By Casey Fitzsimons on 05-29-16
By: Jeff Passan
What listeners say about Charlie Hustle
Highly rated for:
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- Susan Pickett
- 03-21-25
Well researched and written for interest and comprehension
The narrator’s overly dramatic emotive style was both distracting and annoying. It is the worst feature of audible books. Also mispronunciation of proper names in this book. Please be more careful.
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- Ed
- 02-15-25
Sad life
I truly idolized Pete as a player when I was growing up.
I was a freshman in college when he was banished from baseball.
I wish he would have had a relationship with God.
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- Mike Petry
- 04-11-24
Same facts excellent context
Really enjoyed this book. I wouldn’t say I learned anything new about Pete but definitely well framed in a way that contexualized all the actions in an engrossing way.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Alex Rivas
- 04-27-24
Mr hitman ain't perfect
A great book, well researched, written and narrated. A compelling story of one of the best baseball hitters to date.
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- LantripFamily
- 05-12-24
Tough listen--because I love Pete Rose:
Well written examination of a flawed man. My sentimental side swelled with nostalgia. My justice-seeking side was left bruised. So many flawed humans are punished to a much lesser extent. My human side ached for him to find peace.
Let him into the HOF with an asterisk--just let him in.
[We, all, have asterisks.]
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2 people found this helpful
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- S. O.
- 04-18-24
Really enjoyed the writers insight
I really enjoyed this story on Pete. Much has been written. But you always learn something new. The performer of this audio book was great as well. I enjoyed her voice and pace.
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- JIM HOWELL
- 09-06-24
Not for those who want heroes
Exhaustively researched, and that’s what makes this such a quality read. Some may be put off by the narrator’s somewhat cold, emotionless delivery, but it fits here, since this is definitely not a “happily ever after” book. There are really no winners, no saints, and no gray area as to what the author’s feelings are about the main subject of the book. But his facts make him right on target.
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- Donald J. Bentley
- 03-30-25
A man of great ability and a terrible addiction
Pete Rose’s life is like a Greek tragedy. He attained more than he dreamed of, but lost it all because of his gambling addiction. This book is a fascinating story of Pete Rose’s rise and his fall as he succumbs to temptations and drags other people with him.
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- USA VETERAN
- 04-07-24
SOLID STORY OF HUSTLE, WINNING, AND A SAD ENDING NOT QUITE OVER!
As a lifelong fan of Pete Rose, I relived many of his triumphs, and many of his poor choices and failures. I come away with my mixture of feelings towards Pete - memories of admiration, anger, disgust, and - finally - pity and sadness.
Charlie Hustle, later known as the Hit King, had MLB itself as his biggest fan, and he lost that. Sadly, MLB and Baseball's Hall of Fame show little compassion today, and I don't see any change of heart for an increasingly frail old man who will turn 83 on 14 April.
Neither MLB or Cooperstown should waste time patting themselves on their collective backs over the nearly 34 years since that fateful year of 1989 - They have little to be proud of in several instances during their perspective Histories.
Rose will likely die outside the game he glorified with his hits, heart, and hustle - the game he still loves, sells, countless times, while setting many Major League and National League records along the way.
Charlie Hustle gambled away his game, and the Old Man now is all but out of time and forgiveness. That, to me, is particularly quite sad.
Well-written, and very fair. Good narration, too - A Solid Hit!
GRADE: A
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- Kenneth S. Wolf
- 10-10-24
His ego that couldn’t allow him to apologize.
The reader was very good. It was a good choice to have a woman read.
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