Baseball's hit king, Pete Rose, passes away at 83

Cincinnati native Pete Rose has passed away at his home in Las Vegas. Rose, nicknamed “Charlie Hustle”, accumulated 4,256 hits during his 24 years in the league, a mark that has stood as the most in baseball history since he passed Ty Cobb, who previously held the record.

Rose played mostly in the outfield during his playing career but spent a lot of time in the corner infield positions as he aged. His accolades include winning the Rookie of the Year award in 1963, being named an All-Star a whopping 17 times, placing first in National League MVP voting in 1973 and finishing his career with a .303 batting average.

He is known primarily for his time playing with his hometown Cincinnati Reds, during which they won the World Series in 1975 and 1976. He was named the MVP of the former. After spending his first 16 years with the Reds, he won the World Series in his second year as a Philadelphia Phillie in 1980.

Then he returned to Cincinnati in 1984 after a brief stint with the Montreal Expos as the Reds’ player-manager. Rose is the most recent player-manager that baseball has seen.

Rose will forever be remembered for his always-aggressive, hard-nosed style of playing the game. He ran wild on the bases and was never averse to taking the extra base. This aggressive play style came to a head during the 1970 All-Star Game, during which he flattened Cleveland’s catcher, Ray Fosse, in a home plate collision that resulted in Rose scoring the winning run.

Fosse suffered a separated and fractured shoulder which effectively derailed his career.

Although he has the most hits in Major League Baseball history, his legacy may very well be overshadowed by his post-playing days. On August 23rd, 1989, it was announced that Rose had been issued a lifetime ban from baseball after it was discovered that he had placed bets on games that he had managed for the Reds after his playing career had ended.

As a direct result of this ban, in spite of Rose’s Hall-of-Fame caliber career, he is not a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

In 2015, Rose applied for reinstatement from his lifetime ban but current MLB commissioner Rob Manfred denied that request. This attempt was one of four unsuccessful requests for reinstatement. Nonetheless, Rose has stayed somewhat active in baseball circles.

As recently as 2022, he joined the Phillies’ broadcast alongside Tom McCarthy and John Kruk in a game against the Washington Nationals. However, during that appearance, he used profane language multiple times, drawing the ire of some fans.

The switch-hitter may have a checkered legacy, but nobody will soon forget his time with the “Big Red Machine” teams in the 1970s, perhaps the pinnacle of a tremendous career during which he set the Major League record for games played, plate appearances, at-bats, and, most notably hits en-route to cementing his legacy as one of baseball’s all-time greatest players.

He is survived by his children Fawn Rose, Pete Rose Jr., Morgan Erin Rubio, Tyler Rose and Cara Rose.

Dominick Pizzelanti is a second-year dual majoring in broadcast journalism and Spanish. To contact him, email dqp5565@psu.edu.