As the Reds celebrate the 25th anniversary of their last World Series championship, it’s time to examine the role the all-time hitting king played in that 1990 sweep of the Oakland Athletics. Pete Rose, who was kicked out of baseball just months before the Reds became champions and recently petitioned Commissioner Manfred for reinstatement, led his hometown team in the 1988-89 seasons.

There is no doubt that Rose helped put together the list that won everything. Their 1988 lineup closely resembled that of the 1990 group led by Lou Piniella, who had replaced interim manager Tommy Helms before the season.

Had Rose not been expelled and thus remained Cincinnati’s manager, there is evidence that the Reds would not have won the 1990 World Series. In all likelihood, Rose by then would have altered the lineup at the expense of several of his contributors. key code.

The man nicknamed Charlie Hustle is a prominent figure in a Robb Maddi biography of Mike Schmidt, which includes more than a dozen quotes from Rose about his former Phillies teammate and current Hall of Famer. Schmidt himself praises Rose as a major influence on his career, using his own induction speech at the Hall as a platform to encourage baseball to lift Rose’s ban.

Several years after leaving Schmidt and Philadelphia, Rose in 1988 returned to Cincinnati to become a player-coach for the Reds. He used his influence to persuade the Reds to remove Schmidt from the Phillies the following year, when Schmidt faced free agency.

“Some teams expressed interest in Schmidt, but only the Cincinnati Reds made him an offer,” Maddi said in the slugger’s biography. “Pete Rose was managing the 1989 Reds and he knew Schmidt could still play.”

Schmidt, of course, decided to re-sign with the Phillies, for which the Reds should probably be very grateful. If Schmidt had accepted Cincinnati’s offer, the lineup would have changed significantly.

Rose, who had become very good friends with Schmidt, would have allowed the veteran to play third base. That move would have displaced Chris Sabo, who had just been named the National League Rookie of the Year.

Sabo was arguably the best hitter in Cincinnati’s World Series Championship lineup in 1990, when he hit 26 home runs with a batting average of 301. In contrast, Schmidt, who was out of baseball by then, hit just 6 home runs with a measly 203 batting average in his final season.

Having Schmidt instead of Sabo would have significantly reduced the Reds’ offensive production and, in all likelihood, their defense as well. After all, Schmidt was approaching 40 with a limited range, while Sabo was in his early twenties and much more athletic.

Even decades after the Reds won it all, Rose still believes Schmidt would have been a good fit for Cincinnati.

“I still think it would have been better if he had come here,” Rose said after Schmidt announced his retirement. “I think Mike needed to be on a good team, a team that has a chance to win.”

Schmidt may have been better off coming to Cincinnati in 1989, but the Reds probably wouldn’t have.