The best hitter in Major League Baseball history passed away Monday. Pete Rose will be remembered for the mark he left on Major League Baseball and the baseball community, both good and bad.
Rose’s career spanned more than two decades. Despite his controversial past that eventually led to him being banned from baseball, Rose, a three-time World Series champion and 17-time All-Star, will be known as a legendary player.
Rose made his MLB debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 1963 and played with the organization through 1978. He later played for the Philadelphia Phillies until 1984, when he had a brief stint with the Montreal Expos before returning to the Reds that year. He finished out his Major League career with the team he started with, retiring at the end of 1986, but remained with the franchise as a manager until 1989. Those stops saw Rose compile 4,256 hits throughout his decades-long career.
Rose was subsequently banned from baseball in 1989 after the League hired lawyer John Dowd to investigate him amid reports he bet on games, including some of his own.
Dowd’s findings, known as the Dowd Report, concluded that Rose bet on the sport in 1985 and 1986 when served as Reds player and manager, and again in 1987 when he was solely a manager. Rose denied the accusations for years, but later publicly admitted to betting on his team in his 2004 memoir, My Prison Without Bars.
The Baseball Hall of Fame is a separate entity from Major League Baseball, but they have chosen to not place Rose’s name on the ballot. As expected, this has been a controversial decision. Those who favor Rose ask how can the all-time hits leader not be in the Hall of Fame? They add that the Hall is a museum and Rose’s accomplishments should be noted. Critics say he broke the number-one offense within the sport and should be punished.
Rose’s passing is bringing up the argument again. Time will tell if things change and he gets inducted posthumously.
