As we get older, we are seeing many famous or important sports figures pass away. It was indeed a sad day for me and millions of other baseball fans to hear of the passing of baseball legend Pete Rose. He was 83 years old, but I will always remember him as a young man playing for my beloved Cincinnati Reds.
For fans like me, who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s, no player was more exciting than No. 14, “Charlie Hustle.”
Many youngsters like me during that era wanted to wear No. 14. I tried to slide headfirst into the bases like Pete, even in recess games at Nolan Grade School or sandlot games in the summer months.
My dad and I listened to many Reds games on the radio. Few games were shown on television at that time.
Coming up from the minor leagues in the early 1960s with his flat-top haircut, Rose became the National League Rookie of the Year.
I remember trading with a friend to get one of his first baseball cards. You would have thought I had won the lottery.
He became a confident and cocky superstar with his ‘70s shaggy hair, who dove headfirst into second base, turning singles into doubles. He ran to first base after drawing a walk.
Rose had a crouched batting stance and was a switch hitter. He became the best “singles” hitter ever to play the game.
He finished with more hits than any other player in history. Those 4,256 hits broke Ty Cobb’s 4,191 record. It will likely never be broken again.
Rose has the NL record for consecutive game-hitting streak with 44, breaking the record held by Stan Musial.
A 17-time All-Star, Rose played on three World Series-winning teams, two with his hometown Cincinnati Reds in 1975 and 1976. Those Big Red Machine teams are legendary and were some of the best teams ever to hit the baseball diamond.
Rose was the National League MVP in 1973 and World Series MVP in 1975. He holds many other major league records, including games played (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890). He was the lead-off man for one of baseball’s most formidable lineups with the Reds’ championship teams. Some of his teammates included Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Joe Morgan. He and Morgan became great friends and roommates after Morgan was traded to the Reds from the Houston Astros. He was also a great friend to Perez, who he nicknamed “Big Doggy.” This was something at the time because many white players didn’t room with African American players in that era. Rose did not care if a player was white, black or Latin. If you were his teammate and wanted to win, that is all that mattered to him.
He left the Reds over money and, for a short time played for the Montreal Expos and then the Philadelphia Phillies, where he helped them win a World Series, his third as a player.
Over 24 seasons, Rose had 200 hits or more 10 times and more than 180 four other times. He had a lifetime :303 batting average. He won three batting titles and was in the mix several other times. He led the league in hits seven times.
He made 17 All-Star teams playing five different positions, moving anytime his team needed him to so another player could get in the lineup. He switched from second base to outfield (all three spots) to third base and finally to first base, showing his versatility and love for the game. He also won two Golden Gloves for his defense.
Rose will be remembered for his hard play, like barreling over catcher Ray Fosse to score the winning run in an All-Star game or sliding into second base in the NL playoffs, taking out Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson that started a brawl.
He returned to the Reds as a player-manager. But that is when his career took an unfortunate downturn.
He was accused of gambling, not just at the race track and other sports – but on baseball. Then it came out he bet on his own team, which is a big no-no and against the rules.
He agreed to a lifetime ban but always hoped he would be reinstated. He spent a few months in prison for federal tax evasion.
For years, Rose said he never bet on baseball or the Reds. But in later years he admitted he did and he hoped that by coming out with the truth, he would get back into baseball as a coach or manager.
That never happened. His ban kept him off the Hall of Fame ballot. He was never enshrined in Cooperstown, New York, for his great career.
At least the Reds organization was able to vote him into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2016. The street outside of Great American Ballpark is named Pete Rose Way.
However, if there was ever a Hall of Fame player it was Peter Edward Rose. With his resume, it was a no-brainer. But the Commissioners of Major League Baseball would never reinstate him.
Rose spent his later years supplementing his income by holding autograph sessions and hanging out in the gambling mecca of Las Vegas.
Personally, I feel that Rose suffered enough, and it is a shame that he was not inducted into the Hall of Fame. Now he may get in without being there in person to accept, but he is getting in posthumously.
Yes, Rose had his faults, but who doesn’t? We are all human and we all sin.
He was a hero to so many young baseball fans of my age. Rose, the “Hit King,” had a lasting impact on the game and many of us in this region who grew up loving baseball.
Rest in peace, Pete. Hopefully there is a Hall of Fame in heaven for you.
Until next time.
(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)