Baseball legend Pete Rose died on Monday (30 September). But you already know that. And if you’re like me and grew up watching Rose play, you’re left with a host of complicated feelings.
Since that fateful day 35 years ago, when Pete Rose accepted a spot on baseball’s “permanently ineligible” list, his legacy has been fraught. Unquestionably one of the best ballplayers who ever lived, Rose broke sports’ cardinal rule. He bet on baseball and, not only that, on his own team.
Rose died in his home on Monday of causes yet unknown, a spokesperson for the Clark County office of the coroner/medical examiner in Nevada told CNN. He was 83.
On 23 August 1989, then-Major League Baseball commissioner A Bartlett Giamatti banned Rose from the game. Forever. Rose didn’t think it would stick. But Giamatti died of a heart attack just a week after penalising Rose. Since then, no other MLB commissioner has seriously considered reversing the ban, which means Rose could very well be the best player in history not to be featured in the league’s Hall of Fame.
Rose’s last appeal was to current MLB commissioner Rob Manfred in 2015. Manfred denied the request, in part, because he said Rose still wasn’t owning up to the totality of his transgressions.
The penalty was painful. More than once, Rose wept in public about the ban. For years, he signed baseballs and memorabilia with the phrase, “I’m sorry I bet on baseball”. Yet he continued to gamble. In fact, he embraced it.
Rose placed first bet in Ohio
When Ohio went live with sports betting on New Year’s Day in 2023, Rose was there. He placed the state’s first bet at Hard Rock’s Cincinnati sportsbook. He bet on his beloved Reds to win the World Series.
Rose had the nickname “Charlie Hustle” because he was known for his grit, determination and love of the game. He was synonymous with the Reds organisation. He played 18 seasons in Cincinnati and was the manager for five.
It’s easy to forget that he also did stints in Philadelphia and Montreal, but he won a World Series with the Phillies in 1980 – the first in the franchise’s history. The team returned to the championship series in 1983 but came up short to the Baltimore Orioles. When Rose eventually retired as a Red in 1986, he was 45.
As a Red Sox fan, Rose was hard to ignore
Growing up the 1970s as a Red Sox fan, my world was all about the American League East. Cincinnati seemed a world away. But it was impossible not to be wowed by the photos, nightly news video and stories of the athletic, affable, uber-enthusiastic Rose. Nor was it possible to ignore the “Big Red Machine” in Cincinnati.
Between 1970 and 1979, Rose was part of a team that won six National League West Division titles, four National League pennants and two World Series. I watched as much as I could in the pre-connected world of the time. The 1975 World Series was particularly heartbreaking. Boston’s “curse” was 54 years old and I remember when Carlton Fisk hit a walk-off home run to tie the Series at three. The Reds won the next game 3-0, and the curse would extend another 32 years.
Rose was the MVP of that World Series. In that decisive Game Seven, he went 2-for-5 and hit .370 over the seven games. But, maybe more importantly, he was the soul of that team and that series. He smiled. He scowled. He always had dirt on his uniform. He played hard.
We learned 14 years later that Rose played hard off the field, too. MLB investigators determined that he bet on baseball while he was still playing in 1985 and 1986. He told ESPN Radio in 2007 that he bet on the Reds every night when he was the manager.
Rose truly loved baseball
So he bet. A lot. He was unapologetic about his love of gambling. What he was apologetic about was what it cost him.
“I’m not a man who goes around saying sorry, but on this one, I’m truly sorry,” CNN reported Rose wrote in his 2019 autobiography.
“I know that if I ever make the Hall of Fame in some way, it’s sure to be long after I’m gone from this world. But I want you to know how I loved baseball and that I lived a life dedicated to the sport and played the game the way it should be played… always all-out.”
During his career, Rose was a 17-time all-star and a three-time NL MVP. He broke Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record in 1985 and finished his career with 4,256 hits. He still holds that record and MLB records for the most games played (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890). According to many who knew Rose, he would often answer the phone as “Hit King”.
I could write about how Rose may have had a gambling addiction. Or about how he gave sports betting a bad name. Or about the irony that he was celebrated in sportsbooks across America when wagering became legal.
But that’s the thing. I loved Pete Rose. Because he played and loved baseball with a passion we may never see again.
