Every baseball fan in the USA knows Pete Rose. Now the record man, whose career was overshadowed by a scandal, has died at the age of 83.
Wrote baseball history: Pete Rose, here in 2022 at a Philadelphia Phillies game.
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US baseball legend Pete Rose is dead. The former idol, whose successes were overshadowed by a betting scandal, died on Monday at the age of 83 in the US state of Nevada, according to authorities. As a result, Rose was denied induction into the baseball hall of fame. He also made headlines in the US for having a child out of wedlock and filing false tax returns, which landed him in prison for five months.
Numerous records
Rose set a record with 4,256 hits. When he replaced the previous record holder Ty Cobb in September 1985 with his 4,192nd career hit and became the sole record holder, then US President Ronald Reagan called him to congratulate the then 44-year-old. In total, Rose played in the US professional league MLB for 24 years, 18 of them for the Cincinnati Reds. He was named to the All-Star team 17 times and won the World Series championship three times (twice with Cincinnati and once with Philadelphia). In addition to his number of hits, his number of appearances (3,562) and 15,890 times at bat are also MLB records.
Rose, who played infielder and outfielder, began his career with the Reds and ended his career there in 1986, in between playing for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Montreal Expos.
“I went through hell in a gas suit to play baseball,” was a famous saying from Rose, who was known as a hard worker. Reds owner Bob Castellini praised him as one of the toughest competitors the game has ever seen. “We must never forget what he achieved.”
Number 1 on the “Hit Parade”: Pete Rose on the cover of “Sporting News” in 1985.
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Trump for Hall of Fame induction
The league expressed its condolences in a brief statement on Platform “May he rest in peace,” said a statement.
The MLB opened an investigation into Rose in 1989 over allegations of betting on Cincinnati baseball games. Rose repeatedly denied the allegations but agreed to a lifetime ban. He later admitted that he now legally bets on baseball. “I don’t believe betting is morally wrong. I don’t even believe betting on baseball is morally wrong,” Rose wrote in 2019.
His supporters also include Donald Trump, who said in 2015 – before he was elected US President – that he could not believe that Rose had not been inducted into the Hall of Fame. “He paid the price. So ridiculous – let him in,” Trump wrote at the time.
