With that in mind, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Rose is backing Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins for his decision to run over Giants catcher Buster Posey earlier this week. The play likely cost Posey his season, but according to The Palm Beach Post, Charlie Hustle says Cousins was just playing the game.
"That's good hard-nosed baseball," Rose said. "I'm sorry Buster got hurt, but that's the chance you take. That comes with the trade of being a catcher. It was a good hard slide. If [Posey] would have had the ball waiting for him, he could have really given it to Cousins."
When asked what the all-time hit king would tell Cousins, Rose said that he would assure Cousins that he did nothing wrong.
"I would tell him, 'Listen, you played the game hard. You played the game the right way. Collisions happen. You weren't dirty.'"
Rose was also pretty vocal in his stance against baseball changing the rules to help better protect its catchers from serious injuries in similar collisions.
"Oh, come on,'' Rose told the paper when asked about a potential change to the rules. "Can you break up a double play and knock a second baseman on his ass? Are we just going to protect these players like you don't want them to play the game?'"
