Pete Rose was my very first favorite baseball player when I was a youngster. I moved on to the likes of Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Ricky Henderson, Ozzie Smith, etc...but Rose was the first. In fact, Charlie Hustle is the sole reason I started sliding head first when I was 8 and didn’t stop till I finished my baseball career at the end of my senior year in HS. (Never slid head first into home plate though cause that would just be dumb)
In HS I used to steal 3rd all the time. Nobody expected it & I perfected the “wrap around” head first slide where you start off like super man then tuck your left arm while slightly rolling to the right & reaching for the back corner of the bag with your right hand. Even when the catcher had me nailed dead to rights...I would avoid the tag. But usually I caught them off guard & slid in easily.
Took great pride in stealing 3rd. We actually won two games on walk-off squeeze plays my senior year because I had stolen 3rd just prior. I can’t take much credit for either squeeze play though because both were perfectly placed bunts...the first one exactly between the pitcher & first baseman...and the second one right down the 1st baseline because the 1st baseman was playing back. I reached home before he even touched the ball on that last one.