A baseball legend made a historic moment even more special for a University of Kentucky player.
UK’s Nolan McCarthy dove head-first during the game against Oregon State on June 9, reminiscent of a Pete Rose slide. In a video posted on the NCAA’s YouTube page, former Major League Baseball player and current UK Athletics commentator Doug Flynn sent the former Cincinnati Reds legend a picture of the slide.
Flynn and Rose played together for the Reds in 1975 and 1976.
Rose, who has 160 home runs, was Rookie of the Year in 1963 and was on the National League All-Star team 17 times, had this to say to the Wildcat.
“Tell him to keep having fun however the way & only way to have fun is to WIN,” Rose texted Flynn in reference to McCarthy. “Everybody is in a better mood when you WIN you can’t win every game but you should want to…” He passed the message along in a dugout on Thursday while in Omaha.
Needless to say, McCarthy was shocked and appreciated the message.
“Well tell him I said thank you,” he said.
The Kentucky and Texas A&M game in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, started at 7 p.m. on Monday with a trip to the semifinals on the line.
Like Kentucky, the Aggies have yet to lose a game during the NCAA Tournament run.
