Yesterday, baseball legend Pete Rose died at the age of 83. Nicknamed “Charlie Hustle”, Rose played in the MLB from 1963 to 1986. He played most prominently on the Cincinnati Reds, as part of their dominant Big Red Machine in the 1970s. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies and had a brief stint with the Montreal Expos. He managed the Reds from 1984 to 1989.
The Cincinnati Reds signed him to a minor-league deal right after high school. By the end of his first year in the minors in 1961, he was gaining notice with the 2nd-best batting average in the league. He made his big league debut in 1963. That year, Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford sarcastically gave him the nickname Charlie Hustle. It was either after seeing him run to first base after a walk or when he tried to climb the outfield fence to catch a home run about 100 feet over his head.
Rose was a switch hitter and is MLB’s all-time leader in hits, games played, at-bats, singles, and outs. He won 3 World Series championships, the Rookie of the Year Award, and 2 Gold Gloves. He was the only player in Major League history to play 500 games at 5 different positions (first, second, third, right, and left field). He also made 17 All-Star appearances in an unequaled 5 positions.
Rose was penalized with permanent ineligibility in 1989 amidst accusations that he gambled on baseball games while he played for and managed the Reds. Charges of wrongdoing included that he bet on his own team, a claim Rose denied for decades. In 1991, the Baseball Hall of Fame voted to ban those on the “permanently ineligible” list from induction. Although he remains ineligible, artifacts from Rose’s career are on display at the museum. Rose was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2016. After years of public denial, Rose admitted in his 2004 autobiography that he bet on baseball and on the Reds.
Rose died at his home in Las Vegas yesterday at the age of 83. A cause of death wasn’t immediately known, but he had attended an autograph event in Tennesee the day before.
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