Here he again admits he was wrong but devotes only about two pages to the scandal. That will be enough for knowledgeable fans, who by now have formed their own opinions about Rose’s deeds and punishment ... Pete’s vivid recollections of his early years, growing up in the forties and fifties, point out the profound difference between then and now for most kids. The title says it all. This is how a hungry kid became one of the greatest ball players of all time. Essential reading for baseball fans, controversy and all.
... amounts to an eloquent plea for reinstatement ... While [Rose] regrets that he broke the rules, he still seems not to grasp why betting on his own team, as he did, is prohibited ... not a book about gambling; nor is it a work of self-reflection. And its eloquence is of the locker-room variety. Cliche, vulgarity and slang abound ... he is expressive about the sport he loves and about the father who raised him to strive to win. He evokes the baseball of a simpler time ... the most compelling sections of Play Hungry are those that document his rise ... Above all, Play Hungry testifies to the dividends paid by desire, not just to Mr. Rose but to the teammates he inspired with the will to win. None of this qualifies Mr. Rose for sainthood, but it’s worth pointing out that his focus on winning led him to judge his teammates solely by their abilities.
... a bitingly candid reflection on his life in baseball. Just as his fans (or detractors) might expect, he’s witty and brash, but he also displays unexpected earnestness, especially about the love for his father and his upbringing in a poor family in 1940s and ’50s Cleveland, Ohio ... Readers expecting tawdry details will find instead a man who acknowledges his mistake in a chapter titled, 'I Blew It, I Know That' ... With this frank, no-holds-barred narrative, Rose just might win new fans.
The author addresses his gambling and the ban it yielded in a few pages toward the end of the book, and the tone of those pages is difficult to characterize; it’s a cryptic tumble of sentences that is half apology and half defiance ... Unfortunately, the narrative is marred by an absurd amount of repetition regarding the author’s macho nature and his immodesty about his hard-won skills. But when he tones down the attitude, his recollections about baseball—and life off the field—yield rewards for readers ... In a baseball memoir filled with plenty of strikes and balls, Rose offers abundant evidence of why he has become a touchstone of controversy.
