One of the most controversial figures, not just in baseball history but in all of sports history, has passed away at the age of 83.
Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader, passed away in his home on Monday, according to TMZ.
Rose’s agent confirmed the news with the entertainment and gossip outlet, which appears to have been one of the first to break the news.
The cause of Rose’s death is not clear.
TMZ reported that Rose “appeared to be in good spirits” while he was attending an event on Sunday.
Rose, who played primarily for the Cincinnati Reds — but also played for the Philadelphia Phillies and the then-Montreal Expos — is perhaps best known for two things:
- Reaching the absolute pinnacle of baseball while accumulating incredible accolades
- A gambling scandal that plagued the greater part of his adult life
According to Cincinnati.com, Rose isn’t just MLB’s all-time hits leader, with an incredible 4,256 hits to his name.
Rose can also lay claim to having “played in more games, had more at-bats, had gotten on base more and had singled more than anyone in baseball history. He also made the most outs in MLB history.”
For his gutsy and tenacious performances, Rose earned the nickname “Charlie Hustle,” as well as the 1963 National League Rookie of the Year award.
As his career progressed, “Charlie Hustle” quickly established himself as a preternatural baseball talent.
Rose would finish his baseball career with 17 All-Star game appearances, two Gold Glove awards, an NL MVP, a World Series MVP, and three World Series rings.
Rose would also finish his baseball career ignominiously, however.
In 1989, MLB and then-commissioner Bart Giamatti chose to ban Rose, indefinitely, from MLB and virtually all things baseball-related after determining that “Charlie Hustle” had bet on baseball games.
As TMZ noted, Rose denied these allegations for years but, in the early aughts, ultimately admitted to betting on games.
Rose has since earned a spot in the Reds team Hall of Fame, but the MLB never lifted his lifetime ban.
That ban is one of the primary reasons that Rose hasn’t made the National Baseball Hall of Fame, despite easily having the résumé for it.
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