TEAM by John C. Maxwell

Author:John C. Maxwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-09-08T16:00:00+00:00

THE MIRROR PRINCIPLE

THE FIRST PERSON

WE MUST EXAMINE

IS OURSELVES

Coping with difficult people is always a problem, especially if the difficult person happens to be you.

THE QUESTION I MUST ASK MYSELF:

HAVE I EXAMINED MYSELF AND

TAKEN RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHO I AM?

Have you ever known someone who was his own worst enemy, who always managed to short-circuit himself when success was within reach, or who could not seem to hold down a job? Some of these people possess great potential but keep blowing themselves up. But not everyone with these kinds of issues is a person who can’t get ahead in life. Sometimes people who are their own worst enemies achieve big things while slowly chipping away at themselves and their relationships with others. I believe Pete Rose is one such person.

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

When it comes to playing baseball, few people compare to Pete Rose. Here are just a few of his major-league baseball records:

• Most career hits (4,256)

• Most games played (3,562)

• Most at bats (14,053)

• Most total bases by a switch-hitter (5,752)

• Most seasons of 200 or more hits (10)

• Most seasons with 600 or more at bats (17)

• National League record for most career runs (2,165)

• National League record for most years played (24)1

Rose, who was a Gold Glove outfielder for two seasons, also has received numerous awards: he was named the National League Rookie of the Year (1963), the National League Most Valuable Player (1973), and the World Series MVP (1975).2

But while Pete Rose was succeeding on the baseball field, he was failing in other areas of his life. Specifically, the thing that was causing chaos in his personal life and that would eventually end his baseball career was gambling.

Ever since the World Series betting scandal in the early 1900s, major-league baseball has worked to keep gambling out of the sport. In every major-league baseball clubhouse in the United States, Rule 21(d) is posted where players and coaches can see it. The rule states:

Any player, umpire or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year.

Any player, umpire or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible.3

Pete Rose must have walked past that posted rule at least 3,562 times as a player, because that’s how many games he played in. He saw it at least an additional 554 times as a manager.4 Yet he still bet on baseball. And in January 2004, after denying it for fourteen years, Rose finally admitted to betting on baseball, including making bets on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds.

BLIND SPOT

When Pete Rose began betting on baseball in 1987, he said he “didn’t even consider the consequences.”5 Perhaps it was just a natural next step in his progression as a compulsive gambler—a label that Rose vehemently says does not describe him.

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