525PM, Monday"Dude, it's Pete Rose!"
It didn't take a Boy Genius to see that
Derek was right. There, sitting at a little card table in front of one of those overpriced sports collectibles stores was, in fact, Pete Rose.
Of course, the four by ten foot banner trumpeting "PETE ROSE HERE TODAY" was a decent clue as well.
As soon as I saw Pete, I leapt at my chance. "
Al! Gimme a coin." Al tossed me a quarter and I ran over to Pete's table just as some other dude was arriving too.
I rolled up to the table just as the guy who beat me there was moving into position for a photo. "Hey Pete," I started, but got cut off by the bouncer at the table.
"Whattaya want?" I think he could tell I was up to no good. Pete looked around to me, the guy reaching into his pocket rather than for his right hand and a shake from the greatest Punch-and-Judy who ever walked the turf.
I produced a quarter and held it up for him to see. "Pete, would you toss a coin with me for a dollar? Heads or tails? I just want to say I gambled with
Pete Rose!"
In an instant Pete curled down the sides of his mouth and started muttering something unintelligible. Needless to say, the bouncer took care of the rest, moving me off line posthaste.
And yes, it took me under twelve seconds to get under the skin of one of the most disingenuous people on the planet. Poor Pete sat there outside the store watching groups of people walk by without so much as a nod or smile, certainly not the draw I bet the collectibles people had anticipated.
Maybe he should have taken my action, if for no other reason than to occupy two minutes of what had to be an interminably long wait to get back to the craps tables.
Pete Rose can suck my balls. Shit, it's not like I asked him who he liked in the Tiger/Dodger game later...