Some things never change. Death, taxes, and two of my kindergarten heroes.
Pete Rose and Paul McCartney are true veterans in their fields. Each are still active after over a half a century since they burst onto the scene. Most of their peers have passed on, but these juggernauts carry on, defying age and the odds.
Pete Rose, the all-time hits leader in Major League Baseball, was rookie of the year in 1963. Over his 26 year career, among his many awards, he won multiple MVPs, batting titles, All Star Game selections, and World Series titles. He was known for his relentless hustle at all costs. In my view he set the standard for how the game should be played. He also made an indelible mark on my young baseball mind. He’s a big reason I’m a fan today. He continues to speak as a public ambassador for the game, despite his 1989 lifetime ban for gambling.
Since being officially forbidden to take part in any aspect of the game, he has repeatedly applied for reinstatement. Many feel his lifetime sentence is just, while others have grown sympathetic to his plight when compared to more recent player cheating offenses, which have actually changed game outcomes.
Paul McCartney, as a member of the Beatles, shattered any bar that may have been set for rock and roll before or since blowing America’s collective mind on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. With more number 1s than any band ever, and a prolific solo career since the breakup in 1970, Paul has remained in the public eye by continuing to record, tour, produce, write, and collaborate with other artists. For nearly 60 years, his songs have consistently maintained positive themes. Like Pete in baseball, Paul is for me is the standard for how rock and roll should be done.
There is now a generation of music fans who have never heard of the Beatles, much less Paul McCartney. But once introduced, his music both with and without the group are still celebrated across the decades. His concerts continue to sell out, and at age 77, Macca shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
While these two stalwarts both sojourn on with passion for the professions they love, history has smiled on the latter much more than the former. But both are to be admired for remaining active spokesmen for their respective industries.
They are my favorites, although the term “hero” must be taken with a grain of salt. Neither of these legends are perfect. In fact it would be easy to find fault in either of their personal lives, their statements of belief, or their past activities. My focus instead is on the excellence in which they performed their craft, their longevity, and the polar opposite way in which life has judged them.
They can’t last forever. But for now, I love that there are still a couple guys getting after it who have been around since Kindergarten!
Hmm. Makes me feel kinda young!