All-time hits leader Pete Rose dies at 83

CINCINNATI – A gritty baseball great who compiled a nearly unrivaled list of achievements, only to tarnish his own legacy with sins against the game that drew a nearly unrivaled list of detractors, Pete Rose died on Monday at the age of 83.

Rose passed with the distinction of being both Major League Baseball's all-time hits leader and on its permanently ineligible list for betting on Cincinnati Reds games.

"Major League Baseball extends its deepest condolences to Pete Rose's family, his friends across the game, and the fans of his hometown of Cincinnati, Philadelphia and beyond who admired his greatness, grit and determination on the field of play. May he rest in peace," MLB said in a statement.

A Cincinnati native who became a franchise icon for the Reds, Rose is the club's all-time leader in games (2,722), plate appearances (12,344), runs (1,741), hits (3,358), singles (2,490), doubles (601) and walks (1,210). Over his 24-year career that spanned from 1963-86 and saw him also play for the Phillies and Expos, Rose collected 4,256 hits.

“Our hearts are deeply saddened by the news of Pete’s passing,” said Bob Castellini, Reds principal owner and managing partner. “He was one of the fiercest competitors the game has ever seen, and every team he played for was better because of him. Pete was a Red through and through. No one loved the game more than Pete and no one loved Pete more than Reds Country. We must never forget what he accomplished.”

• 10 great moments that defined Rose's career

Among his individual achievements, Rose was the 1963 National League Rookie of the Year, the 1973 NL Most Valuable Player and a winner of three batting titles and two Gold Gloves. He also made 17 All-Star Game appearances and was named a member of MLB’s All-Century team in 1999.

Nicknamed "Charlie Hustle" for his enthusiasm and hard-nosed style of playing the game, Rose put his competitive spirit on full display in the 1970 All-Star Game at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium. He scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning by barreling into catcher Ray Fosse for a vicious collision, despite it being an exhibition game.

Throughout his career, Rose's love and passion for the game were routinely on full display.

“I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball,” Rose often said. 

Part of the Big Red Machine dynasty, Rose won two World Series championships with the Reds, in 1975 and ’76, and a third World Series title while with Philadelphia in 1980.

Born on April 14, 1941, Peter Edward Rose grew up in the blue-collar neighborhood of Anderson Ferry, near the Ohio River on Cincinnati's west side, and attended Western Hills High School. After he graduated, he signed with the Reds for a $7,000 bonus in 1960.

“I don’t remember ever wanting to be anything but a professional athlete, and it’s a good thing I became one, because I never prepared for anything else," Rose told biographer David Jordan.

At the age of 21, Rose debuted with the Reds on April 8, 1963, and somewhat ironically went hitless in three at-bats and 0-for-12 before notching his first hit in the big leagues.

By 1970, under manager Sparky Anderson, the Big Red Machine began a stretch of consistent winning. Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, Dave Concepcion and, eventually, Joe Morgan and George Foster would win five division titles, four NL pennants and two World Series from 1970-76.

"He is Cincinnati. He's the Reds," Anderson famously once said of Rose.

In 1973, Rose won NL MVP honors after he batted .338/.401/.437 with five home runs and 64 RBIs while playing in 160 games. In 1975's seven-game thriller that took down the Red Sox, he was named World Series MVP after batting .370 with a .966 OPS.

During the 1978 season, Rose compiled a 44-game hitting streak, still the third longest in Major League history. He remains the player who came closest to reaching Joe DiMaggio’s record-setting 56-game hit streak from 1941.

With the dawn of free agency in the mid-1970's, the economic landscape of the game was altered dramatically and the Reds were slow to change with the times. Instead of retaining Rose, Cincinnati let him get away when he signed a four-year, $3.2 million contract with the Phillies. 

Joining future Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, Rose won his third World Series with Philadelphia in 1980 and one more NL pennant in 1983. It was with the Phillies in 1981 when Rose passed Hall of Famer Stan Musial with his 3,361st base hit for most all time in the National League.

At the age of 43 in 1984, Rose signed with the Expos. He played only 95 games for Montreal, but it was with that franchise that he notched his 4,000th hit. 

On Aug. 16, 1984, the Reds brought Rose home by acquiring him in a trade to become the club's player-manager and for him to continue his pursuit of Ty Cobb's all-time Major League hits record. 

That record fell on Sept. 11, 1985, at Riverfront Stadium, vs. the Padres. Facing pitcher Eric Show in the bottom of the first inning, Rose lifted a single to left-center field for career hit No. 4,192. He received a thunderous and extended standing ovation and was greeted on the field by his teammates and then-15-year-old son, Pete Jr., who gave him a hug at first base.

Rose retired as a player following the '86 season and focused full-time on managing. His clubs finished in second place five times between 1984 and ’89, but scandals overshadowed his tenure as a skipper. During the '88 season, Rose served a 30-day suspension for shoving umpire Dave Pallone. 

In 1989, it was determined by MLB investigators that Rose had violated league rules by betting on baseball games while managing the Reds. Commissioner Bart Giamatti declared that Rose was permanently ineligible from Major League Baseball but could apply for reinstatement after one year. 

"The banishment for life of Pete Rose from baseball is a sad end of a sorry episode," Giamatti said on Aug. 24, 1989, as the punishment was announced. "One of the game's greatest players has engaged in a variety of acts which have stained the game, and he must now live with the consequences of those acts. There is absolutely no deal for reinstatement."

Rose agreed to the terms, but Giamatti died only days after banning Rose, and subsequent Commissioners declined to let Rose back into the game.

The ban also kept Rose blocked from election to a place he would have otherwise been enshrined, the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. In 1991, the Hall's board voted that anybody permanently banned from the game would be ineligible for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot and blocked from enshrinement.

For nearly two decades, Rose forcefully denied having bet on baseball until finally admitting that he had been lying and did in fact bet on games. 

Rose's troubles extended away from baseball. In 1990, he served a five-month prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to tax-evasion charges when not reporting earnings from memorabilia sales, personal appearances and gambling.

In 2016, it was revealed that Rose engaged in a relationship with an unidentified teenage girl younger than 16 during the 1970's while he was playing for the Reds. Rose would later acknowledge the allegations in court documents but denied the girl was under 16 at the time their sexual relationship began. A lawsuit was dismissed after both sides reached a confidential agreement. 

Although he remained banned from the game to his death, MLB did allow Rose limited access for special occasions. He was part of the 1999 naming of the All-Century Team, revealed before Game 2 of the World Series in Atlanta, and received a standing ovation. In 2016, the Reds were granted permission to induct Rose into their own Hall of Fame and retire his No. 14, and he also took part in a reunion of the 1976 World Series winners. In 2022, he was in Philadelphia for a reunion of the Phillies’ 1980 championship team that was delayed two years by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his later years, Rose was a fixture at autograph signings in Las Vegas casinos and at shops along Main St. in Cooperstown during Hall of Fame Weekend. He also helped place one of the first legal sports bets in Ohio at a Cincinnati casino once sports betting was allowed in the state in 2023. 

Rose may have lived the latter portion of his years away from the game that often defined his life, but rarely was he far from the spotlight. He continued to be a beloved legend by most fans in Cincinnati and around the nation.