Pete might not be able to find many friends these days, but when he broke Ty Cobb's all-time hit record on September 11, 1985, they came out of the woodwork to congratulate him. This rasher of 113 telegrams that flooded Riverfront Stadium that night came from the famous and otherwise, from baseball and otherwise, from as close as down the street and as far away as Japan, from folks representing hotels, car dealerships, restaurants, MGM (with the word "congratulations" covering the page), race tracks (surprise), corporate concerns such as General Mills -- and most of all regular fans who would be the most betrayed by the subsequent gambling revelations. Notables include baseball names like Phil Niekro, Tommy John, Joe Torre, Gary Carter (identifying himself only as "The Kid"), Dwight Gooden, Art Shamsky, NL president Chub Feeney, announcer Jack Buck, players and execs of the Tokyo Giants, American and Japanese sportswriters, politicians such as Ohio governor Richard Celeste, the Republican leader of the state House of Representatives, the mayor of Port St. Lucie, Florida, etc. From actor Richard Burton came these words: "For 23 years you have had fun. Now you have immortality." Another, from a fan named David Vance, summed it up: "Here's to you, Pete. God loves you and so does the entire Western world" -- though the most prophetic came from Southern League president Jimmy Bragan in an earlier telegram congratulating Pete on being named being Reds player-manager. "Concentrate on winning," it says, "and not the money being paid." All telegrams are NRMT, and will make all Rose fans -- and Rose himself -- wish they could turn back the clock.