Pete Rose Dies: Baseball’s All-Time Hits Leader Shunned By Hall Of Fame Over Gambling Scandal Was 83

Pete Rose, Major League Baseball‘s legendary all-time hits leader who was shunned by the Hall of Fame over a gambling scandal during his coaching career, died Monday in Clark County, NV. He was 83.

During a live MLB postseason preview on ESPN, an emotional Eduardo Pérez broke into the banter to announce the news of Rose’s death. “My father called me, and I confirmed it with my brother Pete Rose Jr.: Pete Rose passed away today and, um, it’s hard. … It’s a big hit for a lot of baseball families so, it’s a tough one right now.”

Nicknamed “Charlie Hustle” for his tenacity and competitiveness on the diamond, Rose had an unmatched 23-year career, amassing an MLB-record 4,256 hits — or “knocks,” as he called them — and also playing in more games (3,562) than any other player. He also holds career records for singles (3,215), at-bats (14,053) and plate appearances (15,890).

A member of MLB’s All Century Team, Rose was a seventeen-time All-Star and a three-time battling champion. He won three World Series titles — two back-to-back with the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds in 1975, when he was named Series MVP, and 1976 and another with the stacked 1980 Philadelphia Phillies. He also was the National League MVP in 1973 and Rookie of the Year a decade earlier.

But Rose’s iconic career was tainted forever by a gambling scandal when he was coaching the Reds in the late 1980s. Then-MLB Commissioner Peter Uberroth and NL President Bart Giamatti questioned him about reports that Rose bet on baseball games. Initially, he admitted to gambling on other sports but denied betting on baseball.

Giamatti later was named MLB commissioner and pressed the investigation. In 1987, the Dowd Report — named for attorney John Down, who led the probe — concluded that Rose had bet on more than 50 Reds games in 1987 and others during the prior two seasons. Despite continuing to deny the allegations, Rose agree to be put on MLB’s ineligible list. Despite pleas from fans, fellow players and others, he never was reinstated, leaving him out of the Baseball Hall of Fame despite being one of the sport’s all-time greatest hitters.

Among his most famous — or notorious — MLB moments came in the 1970 All-Star Game, when Rose tried to score from second base on a single to centerfield. He steamrolled AL catcher Ray Fosse to plate the winning run. Fosse had severe shoulder injuries and was never the same player.

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