Hustle (2004)

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Few figures in professional baseball had a career quite like Pete Rose -- and practically no one who climbed so high fell so hard. Rose made his major-league debut playing second base with the Cincinnati Reds in 1963; nicknamed "Charlie Hustle" for his daringness and enthusiasm over the course of his career, Rose played in eighteen All-Star games, earned three World Series rings, broke Ty Cobb's record for career hits, and in 1975 was named Sportsman of the Year by both Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News. In 1984, after six years with other teams, Rose returned to the Reds, signing on as both player and manager at the age of 43; he continued to play until 1986, and stepped down as manager in 1989. That same year, a dark secret Rose had been hiding for years came to the surface -- Rose had for years been dealing with an addiction to gambling, and after falling deep in debt to bookies by betting on horse racing, he attempted to make the money back by betting on baseball, including wagering on his own team and his own games. These revelations led to Rose being banned from professional baseball, a stay in prison when an IRS investigation discovered he had failed to pay taxes on sale of memorabilia, and a decision that would prevent him from entering the Baseball Hall of Fame, though Rose denied the gambling allegations. (In his 2004 autobiography, Rose finally confessed that he did gamble on baseball but denied betting on his own teams.) Hustle stars Tom Sizemore as Pete Rose in this biographical drama produced for the cable sports network ESPN, which chronicles Rose's rise to fame, his fall from grace as he became involved with gambling, and Rose's ongoing fight to be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Peter Bogdanovich served as director. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi