Pete Rose: Big Time

In 1960, three years before Pete Rose became a rookie for the Cincinnati Reds, he filled out a questionnaire that a baseball statistician sent to Minor Leaguers. The questionnaire asked the usual questions: name, date of birth, etc., but also left a space for "Ambition In Baseball." Most players wrote "to play in the Major Leagues," but not Pete Rose, baseball's future all-time hits leader. He wrote "Big Time." This document shows the fire and confidence that Pete Rose had three years before setting out on the odyssey to become baseball's hit king.

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This is a letter from Bob Friend, the pitcher who gave up the first hit to Rose.