Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s (MLB) all-time hits leader who is perhaps better known for his lifetime ban from the game for betting on baseball, has passed away at the age of 83.
Key Highlights
- Pete Rose is MLB’s career leader in hits, games, plate appearances, and at-bats.
- He was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on games as a player and manager.
- Because of the ban, Rose has been ineligible for induction into the Hall of Fame.
Untouchable Record
Rose played in the majors for 24 seasons, mostly of them with the Cincinnati Reds.
His 4,256 career base hits could be a record that stands forever – the multi-decade hitting prowess required to reach that number is something that modern-day players simply might not be able to sustain.
“Charlie Hustle,” as famed New York Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford nicknamed him, also holds MLB records for most career games played, plate appearances, and at-bats.
Rose led the league in hits seven times and in batting average three times. He finished his career with a .303 batting average.
Rose won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1963 and National League MVP in 1973. He was a 17-time All-Star and won three World Series titles.
“Permanently Ineligible” for Betting on Baseball
Normally, a player like Pete Rose would be considered for the game’s Mount Rushmore, but for the last 35 years, he has been on baseball’s “permanently ineligible” list for not just betting on baseball but for betting on games in which he both played and managed.
It wasn’t until 2004, in his autobiography My Prison Without Bars, that Rose finally admitted to betting on both baseball and the Reds.
In 1989, the league hired attorney John Dowd to investigate reports that Rose gambled on games.
Dowd’s 225-page report said that Rose did wager on MLB games, including Reds games, when he was the Reds’ player/manager in both 1985 and 1986, and in 1987 after he retired from playing and was just the team’s manager.
Rose denied it, but MLB Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti banned him for life, as per league rules, later that summer.
Rose had a chance to be reinstated, but he continued to deny betting for a decade in a half. It wasn’t until 2004, in his autobiography My Prison Without Bars, that Rose finally admitted to betting on both baseball and the Reds.
Rose said he never bet against his own team.
Outside Looking In
One consequence of Pete Rose’s lifetime ban is that he is ineligible to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, a rule put in place in 1991. Fans, sports journalists, and players alike are split on the matter.
Those who believe Rose should be inducted into the Hall argue that he should be judged based on what he did on the field.
Not everyone in the HOF was a golden child, so while what Rose did was banishment-worthy, his playing career should be considered separately.
Opponents of his inclusion cite not only the 1991 rule but also the voting rule, which includes “integrity” and “character” as admission criteria.
Betting on one’s own sport, and especially one’s own team, is considered the number one sin in professional sports. Pete Rose knowingly violated the rule for years and then spent years in unapologetic denial.
Does Only Betting on His Team to Win Matter?
One common refrain from those who want Rose in the Hall of Fame is that he supposedly never bet against the Reds, that he only bet on them to win. Thus, he did not harm the integrity of the game.
Baseball experts will point out, however, that as the team manager, having money on his team could have caused Rose to make decisions that could have hurt the Reds in the long run.
For example, to try to win a game because he had money riding on the outcome, Rose might have left a pitcher in for too long, risking injury and making him unavailable when needed in a future game.
In 2007, though Rose said in an interview that he bet on the Reds every game when he was manager, Dowd told ESPN2 the next day that what Rose said wasn’t true.
Dowd claimed that Rose’s betting depended on the Reds’ pitcher. Thus, those who knew his betting pattern would know which games Rose felt were better bets.
Sources
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/41538454/pete-rose-all-mlb-hits-leader-dies-83
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/30/sport/pete-rose-death-mlb-spt/index.html
https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/rosepe01.shtml
https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-fame/election-rules/bbwaa-rules
