Pete Rose had so many memorable moments at Riverfront Stadium, it's hard to pick a favorite.

        For some, it is hit No.4,192, which broke Ty Cobb's all-time record.

        For others, it's games 41-43 of his 44-game hitting streak.

        For others, it is our Memorable Moment No.6 1/2ndash 3/4 Rose's triumphant return as a Red to Cincinnati on Aug.17, 1984, after an absence of almost a six years.

        “...I don't think anybody expected that to unfold the way it did,” Reds broadcaster Joe Nuxhall said. “It was like he never left.”

        After the 1978 season, the year of Rose's celebrated hit streak, Rose exercised his right of free agency and chose the Philadelphia Phillies as his new team. He signed a three-year, $2.4 million contract.

        Rose led the Phillies to a World Championship in 1980 and was in the World Series again in 1983. He played part of the 1984 season in Montreal before Reds general manager Bob Howsam crafted a deal to bring him back home as a manager-player.

        Rose accepted that designation publicly but felt he initially could do more as a player to revive the franchise, which had lost 189 games over the previous two seasons. He wasted no time in getting started.

        In his first at-bat as a reborn Red, before 35,056 applauding fans, he lined a single to center field, where the ball skidded on the Astroturf and slid under the glove of a hard-charging Bob Dernier, who knew all too well Rose's propensity for turning seemingly harmless singles into run-producing doubles.

        Rose roared around second. The crowd cheered his every step and exploded with emotion as Rose slid head-first into third.

        “Everybody turned about 10 years younger when he did that, because it took them back to the days of the Big Red Machine,” Nuxhall said. “They went nuts.”

        Among them were Rose's teammates and fellow Cincinnati natives Dave Parker, Ron Oester and Tom Hume, and other “homies,” Cubs manager Jim Frey, coach Don Zimmer and first baseman Leon Durham.

        To them, and to Reds fans, it was a sign that Cincinnati soon would be back on the baseball map.

        Reds third baseman Wayne Krenchicki had tears in his eyes. Shortstop Dave Concepcion got goose bumps. Outfielder Cesar Cedeno said the hair on his arms stood up.

        The Reds won 6-4.

        “I've never seen such a change (in a ballclub) in one day,” said longtime coach and former pitcher Stan Williams. “Never.”

        Rose wasn't able to get the Reds totally over the hump - they were 70-92 in 1984 and finished second the next four seasons - but the rebirth of the franchise had begun. And it began with that head-first slide.

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