The Cincinnati Reds had just come from behind to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-6 for a three-game sweep in the 1976 National League Championship Series.
The next day, a Wednesday, its star player, Pete Rose was in Lexington at Keeneland racetrack.
Yes, the Big Red Machine had a Saturday date at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium in the World Series with the eventual American League Champion New York Yankees, but the man who would become baseball’s “Hit King” appeared focused on the eight-race card at Keeneland.
Rose, who died Monday at 83 years old, famously accepted a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989 because of accusations he gambled on games while managing the Reds. First denying he ever bet on baseball, Rose later admitted he gambled on the game and his beloved Reds. The scandal cost him induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Herald-Leader archive photos show Rose watching Thoroughbred horse races from a Keeneland Grandstand box with binoculars a day after the Reds beat the Phillies. He was joined by a high school pal, Joe Kaiser, then sports director for WLEX-TV Tom Hammond, and University of Kentucky basketball player Rick Robey.
Cincinnati Reds third baseman Pete Rose, left, grimaced while watching the races at Keeneland on Oct. 13, 1976. Rose, relaxing before the World Series, attended the races with a high school pal, Joe Kaiser, with binoculars, and shared a box with sportscaster Tom Hammond, rear, and University of Kentucky basketball player Rick Robey. The Reds had won the National League Championship Series against Philadelphia the day before. The defending champion Reds would face the New York Yankees in the World Series, sweeping the Series to become the only team to sweep an entire multi-tier postseason. David Perry 1976 Herald-Leader file photo
Rose was also spotted in the paddock checking out the horses and talking with fans. With him was Lexington native Doug Flynn, the Reds’ utility infielder, Mario Nunez, a friend of Rose’s known as “The Cuban,” Hammond and Teri Rubio, a friend of Rose’s.
During Keeneland’s Fall Meet in October 1976 two members of Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine,” Pete Rose and Doug Flynn, paid a visit to the Lexington track. The Reds had just won the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies the day before and were about to make history in the World Series, sweeping the New York Yankees in four games, to win back-to-back World Series. The group shown here in the Keeneland paddock included, from left, Doug Flynn, the Reds’ utility infielder, Mario Nunez, a friend of Rose’s known as “The Cuban,” Tom Hammond, then sports director for WLEX-TV, Teri Rubio, a friend of Rose’s and Pete Rose. David Perry 1976 Herald -Leader file photo
A newspaper clipping from the Thursday, Oct. 14, 1976, Lexington Leader showed Cincinnati Reds star Pete Rose at Keeneland a day after the “Big Red Machine” clinched its second consecutive World Series appearance. Three days later Rose and the Reds would face the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series. Herald-Leader archives
Brian Simms has been with the Herald-Leader for 20-plus years, most recently reporting and editing coverage of restaurants, bars, food and bourbon. He is also a photographer and manages the newspapers photo archive that dates back to the late 1930s.Support my work with a digital subscription
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