Pete Rose

Peter Edward Rose Sr. (April 14, 1941 – September 30, 2024), nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds lineup known as the Big Red Machine for their dominance of the National League in the 1970s. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies, where he won his third World Series championship in 1980, and had a brief stint with the Montreal Expos. He managed the Reds from 1984 to 1989.

Rose was a switch hitter and is MLB's all-time leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053), singles (3,215), and outs (10,328). He won three World Series championships, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Glove Awards, and the Rookie of the Year Award. He made 17 All-Star appearances in an unequaled five positions (second baseman, left fielder, right fielder, third baseman, and first baseman). He won two Gold Glove Awards when he was an outfielder, in 1969 and 1970. He also has the third-longest hit streak in MLB history at 44, and remains the last player to hit safely in 40 or more consecutive games.

In August 1989 (his last year as a manager and three years after retiring as a player), Rose was penalized with permanent ineligibility from baseball amid accusations that he gambled on baseball games while he played for and managed the Reds; the charges of wrongdoing included claims that he bet on his own team. In 1991, the Baseball Hall of Fame formally voted to ban those on the "permanently ineligible" list from induction, after previously excluding such players by informal agreement among voters. After years of public denial, he admitted in 2004 that he bet on baseball and on the Reds. The issue of his election to the Hall of Fame remains contentious throughout baseball. In 2025, he was posthumously reinstated and became eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Early life

Peter Edward Rose was born on April 14, 1941, in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of four children born to Harry Francis "Pete" Rose and LaVerne (née Bloebaum) Rose. Encouraged by his parents to participate in sports, Rose played baseball and football at Western Hills High School.

Although small for his age, Rose earned the starting running back position on his freshman football team. When he was not promoted to the varsity football team in his sophomore year, Rose was dejected and soon lost interest in his studies. He ended up repeating his sophomore year of high school instead of going to summer school.

When Rose finally reached his senior year, he had used up his four years of high school sports eligibility. In the spring of 1960, he played baseball in the Dayton Amateur League for a team sponsored by Frisch's Big Boy of Lebanon, Ohio. Rose played catcher, second base, and shortstop and compiled a .626 batting average. This would have been the pinnacle of Rose's baseball career if not for the help of his uncle, Buddy Bloebaum, a "bird dog" scout for the Cincinnati Reds. At Bloebaum's urging, the Reds, who had recently traded away a number of prospects who turned out to be very good, decided to take a chance on Rose. Upon his graduation from high school in 1960, he signed a professional contract for $7,000 (around $76,615.95 in 2025). He played with the Macon Peaches, a minor league affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, from 1962 to 1963.

Professional career

Cincinnati Reds (1963–1978)

NL Rookie of the Year

During a spring training game against the Chicago White Sox in 1963, the Reds' regular second baseman, Don Blasingame, pulled a groin muscle; Rose got his chance and made the most of it. During another spring training game against the New York Yankees, Whitey Ford gave Rose the derisive nickname "Charlie Hustle" after he sprinted to first base after drawing a walk. Rose adopted that insult as a badge of honor and his iconic trademark. In Ken Burns's documentary Baseball, Ford's teammate (and best friend) Mickey Mantle claimed that Ford gave Rose the nickname after Rose, playing in left field, made an effort to climb the fence to try to catch a Mantle home run that was about 100 feet over his head. According to Mantle, when he returned to the dugout, Ford said, "Hey, Mick, did you see ol' Charley Hustle out there trying to catch that ball?"

On April 8, 1963, Rose made his MLB debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Crosley Field and drew a walk in his first plate appearance. After going 0-for-11, Rose got his first career major league hit on April 13, a triple off Pittsburgh's Bob Friend. He hit .273 for the year and won the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year Award, collecting 17 of 20 votes.

Rose entered the United States Army Reserves after the 1963 baseball season. He was assigned to Fort Knox for six months of active duty, followed by six years of attendance with the 478th Engineering Battalion, an army reserve unit, at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. At Fort Knox, Rose was a platoon guide. Rose remained at Fort Knox to assist his sergeant in training the next platoon and to help another sergeant train the fort's baseball team. Later in his Fort Thomas service, Rose served as a company cook, which entailed coming in early for the one-weekend-per-month meeting so that he could leave early enough to participate in Reds home games. Other Reds players in the unit included Johnny Bench and Alex Johnson.

Early years

In an April 23, 1964, road contest against the Houston Colt .45's, Rose reached first base on an error in the top of the ninth inning of a scoreless game and scored on another error. The Colt .45s lost the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, and Ken Johnson became the first major league pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter.

Rose slumped late in the season and was benched; he finished with a .269 average. To improve his batting, Rose played in the Venezuelan Winter League with Leones del Caracas during the 1964–1965 offseason. Rose came back to the Reds in 1965, leading the league in hits (209) and at-bats (670), and finishing sixth in NL MVP balloting. It was the first of his 10 seasons with 200-plus hits, and his .312 batting average was the first of nine consecutive .300 seasons. He hit a career-high 16 home runs in 1966, then switched positions from second base to right field the following year.

In 1968, Rose started the season with a 22-game hitting streak, missed three weeks (including the All-Star Game) with a broken thumb, then had a 19-game hitting streak late in the season. He had to finish the season 6-for-9 to beat out the Pirates' Matty Alou and win the first of two close NL batting-title races with a .335 average. He finished second to St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson for the NL MVP award, earning six first-place votes.

The following year, Rose set a career-high in batting (.348) and tied his career-best 16 homers. As the Reds' leadoff man, he had 218 hits, walked 88 times, and paced the league in runs with 120. He hit 33 doubles and 11 triples, drove in 82 runs, slugged .512 (by far the highest mark of his long career), and had a .432 on-base percentage (also a career best). Despite Pittsburgh's Roberto Clemente going 3-for-4 in the final game, Rose's 1-for-4 was good enough for the title; Rose finished at .348; Clemente at .345.

1970 All-Star Game

Brand-new Riverfront Stadium had been open for only two weeks on July 14, 1970, when Rose was involved in one of the most infamous plays in All-Star Game history. Facing the California Angels' Clyde Wright in the 12th inning, Rose singled and advanced to second on another single by the Los Angeles Dodgers' Billy Grabarkewitz. The Chicago Cubs' Jim Hickman then singled sharply to center. Amos Otis's throw went past Cleveland Indians catcher Ray Fosse, as Rose barreled over Fosse to score the winning run. Fosse suffered a fractured and separated shoulder, which went undiagnosed until the next year. Fosse continued to hit for average and finished the season at .307, but with diminished power. He had 16 home runs before the break, but only two afterward. He played with the Indians until the 1972 season, but never approached his first-year numbers. The collision also caused Rose to miss three games with a bruised knee.

1973 NL MVP season

In 1973, Rose led the league with 230 hits and a .338 batting average en route to winning the NL MVP award and leading "the Big Red Machine" to the 1973 National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.