PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The news spread quickly like wildfire. Within hours, it seemed, everyone knew. “He” was arriving. “He” would throw the Phillies, already a very good team with a No. 1, lights-out starting pitcher, over the top.
Only back then, major sports news unfolded through radio, newspapers and TV. Not with the flick of a thumb.
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But all of Philadelphia went crazy on an early December night in 1978 over the news: Cincinnati Reds superstar Pete Rose was signed as a free agent by the Phillies, the three-time defending National League East champs, giving them baseball’s best infield, with Rose at first base, Manny Trillo at second (who the Phillies would later pick up in a trade in February 1979), along with stalwarts Larry Bowa at shortstop, Mike Schmidt at third and catcher Bob Boone.