He had a solid script, he says, and a total lack of personal expertise with its subject matter, which he says saved him "a lot of time."

His last film, ABC's The Mystery of Natalie Wood, covered a familiar subject. Bogdanovich knows Hollywood and he knew Wood so he spent months reworking the script.

This is a director who knows little about baseball and much about human psychology. For Hustle, that may have helped.

The film, which debuted Saturday night on ESPN, reruns at 1 p.m. today, 9 p.m. Monday and 2 p.m. Tuesday. On ESPN2, it airs four times Monday - 11 a.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.

Rose was a great player and successful manager who was banished from the game for breaking its rules against gambling.

"It's a story of a Shakespearean tragedy," says Ron Semiao, who is in charge of ESPN's movies. "This is one of the best baseball players of all time and a really, really dramatic fall."

Bogdanovich, 65, may not know baseball, but he does know Shakespeare and human tragedy. "It's about a guy who loses his way of life," he says. "This was his life, ever since he was a kid."

Hustle was another matter. He didn't request the script the film's producers sent him. "It was very well-written, very hard-hitting," he says.

And he had little to add. Baseball is hardly his area of expertise.

Growing up in Manhattan, Bogdanovich didn't have a lot of sandlots nearby. "I played (baseball) a little at summer camps when I was 10, 11, 12 years old," he says.

He went to one game when he was 10 and one as a young man.

"Sandy Koufax was pitching for the Dodgers out in Los Angeles," Bogdanovich recalls. "Cary Grant drove me in his Rolls Royce, bought me hot dogs and sang English songs. How could I top it?"

That night, around 1966, wrapped up his baseball-watching phase. Bogdanovich became well known as a filmmaker (The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon) and as an expert on Hollywood history.

Then came the Hustle script. Even without knowing baseball, the director may have understood Rose's obsessions.

"Movies are an obsession," Bogdanovich says. "Pete is obsessed with the game. I think that's something you see a lot of."

For that matter, the actor playing Rose knows obsession and tragedy. Tom Sizemore has been through drug rehab. Last year, he was convicted of six misdemeanors involving physical abuse to then-girlfriend Heidi Fleiss, the former Hollywood madam. And earlier this month, his probation in that case was revoked. Right now he's free pending a hearing on Nov. 8.

But it hasn't hurt his acting ability. He easily played Rose, Bogdanovich says, including game scenes. "Tom is a good player."