(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
IN MEMORIAM
...Pete Rose...
(1941 - 2024) |
 Major League- and Reds-legend and All-Time Hits Leader Pete Rose passed away
Nederlands
 LAS VEGAS, Nevada (USA) -
Pete Rose, the legendary infielder/outfielder of Cincinnati Reds (including the successful 'Big Red Machine' decade in the seventies) and the All-Time Hits Leader (4,256) in the Major League, has passed away on Monday (September 30) at the age of 83.
Pete Rose, who was nicknamed 'Charlie Hustle', played in 24 seasons (1963-1986), 19 of them with Cincinnati, was Rookie of the Year (1963), Most Valuable Player (1973), played in 17 All-Star Games and won three World Series.
In his final three seasons, Rose was player/manager of Cincinnati.
Thereafter, he was solely Manager for three more seasons.
Rose, who without any doubt was one of the best players (and hitters) ever, also played for Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos.
On Sunday, Rose had been in Franklin, Tennessee for an autograph event with some of his former Cincinnati-teammates.
Therefore, his passing came unexpectedly, although it was reported that had some health problems in recent weeks.
With his impressive career and accomplishments, Rose surely belongs in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
However, Rose also was a somewhat controversial person, especially towards the end off his long career in which he realized numerous Major League-, National League and Reds-records.
His career ended abruptly in August 1989 due to accusations that he had gambled on baseball-games, including games of Cincinnati Reds when he played and coached there.
As a result, the All-Time Hits Leader was penalized with a permanent ineligibility from Major League Baseball by then-Major League Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti.
In 1991, the Hall of Fame voted to ban persons who are on the permanently ineligible list from induction, meaning Rose could never be elected.
In 2016, Rose was elected into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and his uniform number 14 was retired by the club.
In 1999, Pete Rose was selected as an outfielder for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
Peter Edward Rose Sr. was born on April 14, 1941 in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he played baseball and football at Western Hills High School.
In 1960, while still in school, Rose played baseball in an amateur league where he showed his talents.
That attracted the interest of his hometown Cincinnati Reds and thanks to his uncle Buddy Bloebaum (brother of his mother), who was a scout, he was signed after he had graduated from High School in 1960.
After having played in the Minor Leagues in 1960-1962, Rose was in Spring Training with the Major League-team in 1963.
When regular second baseman Don Blasingame sustained an injury, Rose filled in.
He immediately showed his passionate, driven, enthousiastic and 'going-all-the-way' style of playing, which he would exhibit during his entire career.
It was during a Spring Training-game in 1963, that he was given his nickname 'Charlie Hustle' by famous New York Yankees-pitcher Whitey Ford.
One story has it that Ford gave the nickname when Rose sprinted to first base after getting a walk.
Another is that Ford made the remark towards Mickey Mantle after Rose had ran to the fence in leftfield trying to catch a homerun by Mantle.
The nickname would stick his entire career.
Rose made the Major League-team as second baseman and that would mark the beginning of an impressive record-setting career.
Rose would never play in the Minor Leagues again.
Pete Rose made his Major League-debut on April 8, 1963, six days before he turned 22, in a home-game against Pittsburgh Pirates.
He walked in his first at bat.
Five days later, after having gone 0-for-11, Rose recorded his first basehit,which was a triple, also against Pittsburgh.
It was the first of more than 4,200 to come.
In his first Major League-season, Rose played in 157 games, collected 170 basehits (including 25 doubles, nine triples and six homeruns), scored 101 runs, batted in 41 and finished with a .273 batting average.
After the season, Rose was named Rookie of the Year of the National League.
In his second Major League-season, 1964, Rose batted .269.
But on April 23, 1964, Pete Rose was part of some history for the first time.
On that day, Cincinnati played an away-game against Houston Colt. 45s, which would change its name to Astros after the 1964 season.
The game remained scoreless for eight innings and further more, Cincinnati was kept hitless by Houston-pitcher Ken Johnson.
With one out in the top of the ninth inning, Rose bunted and reached second base when Johnson made an error.
Rose advanced to third base on a grounder by Chico Ruiz, then scored when a grounder by Vada Pinson also ended in an error by veteran second baseman Nellie Fox.
In the bottom of the ninth, Reds-pitcher Joe Nuxhall retired the first two batters.
Next batter Pete Runnels then initially was ruled out by 1B Umpire Stan Landes, but he was overruled by Home Plate Umpire Augie Donatelli, who had a better view and stated that Nuxhall, who had made the play at first base, didn't had control of the ball and so Runnels reached on an error.
Cincinnati filed a protest, but that was withdrawn when a strikeout ended the game.
With that, Cincinnati won 1-0 and Ken Johnson became the first pitcher in history to throw a complete game No-Hitter and end up as losing pitcher.
After slumping somewhat towards the end of the 1964 season, Pete Rose played in all 162 regular season-games in 1965 and led the league in at bats (670) and basehits (209).
He finished with a .312 average, his first off nine consecutive seasons hitting .300 or higher.
For Rose, this also was his first of eight seasons in which he played in all 162 games, in one season, there were 163 games.
In 1974-1977, he played in all games in four consecutive seasons.
Overall, in his long career, Rose played in 145 or more games in 19 seasons.
When Pete Rose made his debut in 1963, amongst his teammates were Leo Cárdenas, Gordy Coleman, Johnny Edwards, Tommy Harper, Joe Nuxhall, Vada Pinson, Frank Robinson and Bob Skinner.
Most of them would remain teammates through 1966.
In 1944, Nuxhall, a lefthanded pitcher, had become the youngest player ever to play in the Major League.
As many players were in active duty during World War II, there was a shortage of players and so, Nuxhall was added for one game.
At that moment, he was 15 years and 316 days.
Joining Cincinnati in 1964 were Steve Boros, Chico Ruiz and Tony Pérez.
The latter remained Rose's teammate through 1976 (and again in later years).
Amongst his teammates in 1965 and 1966 also were Roger Craig, Sammy Ellis, Tommy Helms, Lee May and Milt Pappas.
In 1967, Rose moved from second base to the outfield.
Also that season, catcher Johnny Bench made his debut for Cincinnati.
He would be Rose's teammate through 1978 and developed into one of the best players in history.
Bench is generally recognized as the best catcher ever.
Another new player in 1967 was pitcher Gary Nolan, who would play for the team through 1977.
Clay Caroll, also a longtime pitcher for Cincinnati, joined in 1968.
Other players who played for the club since 1968 were Tony Cloninger, Pat Corrales, Hal McRae and Woody Woodward.
They were joined in 1969 by Bernie Carbo, Darrel Chaney, Wayne Granger and Bobby Tolan.
1970 was the beginning of a very successful period in Cincinnati Reds-history.
Amongst the new players that year were Pedro Borbon, Dave Concepción, Frank Duffy, Don Gullett, Bill Plummer and Wayne Simpson.
Joining the team in the following season were George Foster and Ross Grimsley.
It was the beginning of an era in which the team became known as 'The Big Red Machine'.
In the seventies, Cincinnati Reds dominated and the team in those years is widely recognized as being one of the best in history.
The team won six National League West Division-titles, four National League-championships and also won two World Series (1975, 1976).
Rose, Bench and Concepción played in all those seasons for Cincinnati.
In most of the seasons, they were joined by Pérez (through 1976), Foster (since 1971), César Gerónimo, Joe Morgan (both since 1972) and Ken Grifffey Sr. (since 1973).
They became known as 'The Great Eight'.
In the entire period, the team was led by legendary Manager Sparky Anderson.
Through the years, these players combined won six National League MVP-titles, 25 Gold Gloves and earned 63 All Star-selections.
Bench, Pérez and Morgan (who passed away in 2020) were elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
All eight were elected into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, as was Anderson, who by the way, also was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Other wellknown Reds-players who were part of the Big Red Machine in many of these years were Ed Armbrister, Dan Driessen and pitchers Jack Billingham, Fred Norman and Rawly Eastwick.
Other players (three seasons or less) in this successful decade included Denis Menke, Terry Crowley, Ray Knight, Merv Rettenmund, Doug Flynn, Bob Bailey, Mike Lum, Joel Youngblood, Rick Auerbach, Dave Collins and pitchers Dave Tomlin, Will McEnaney, Pat Darcy, Santo Alcala, Manny Sarmiento, Pat Zachry, Woodie Fryman, Paul Moskau, Tom Seaver and Mario Soto.
Unfortunately, from this group, three other players also passed away earlier this year, being Don Gullett (February 14), Bill Plummer (March 12) and Pat Zachry (April 4).
...'The Great Eight' re-unite for the first time in 37 years...
...on September 6, 2013 in Cincinnati... |
'The Great Eight' were the most productive players of the Big Red Machine.
Rose was one of the leaders, as were Bench, Morgan and Pérez.
After having led the National League in basehits in 1965, Pete Rose also did so in 1968 (210), 1970 (205), 1972 (198), 1973 (230) and 1976 (215).
He also led the League in runs scored in 1969 (120), 1974 (110), 1975 (112) and 1976 (130).
And he led in doubles in four seasons.
In 1968 (.335), 1969 (career high .348) and 1973 (.338), Rose was the best hitter of the National League.
In 1969, he just finished ahead of Roberto Clemente, who batted .345.
Also in 1969, Rose began the season with a 22-game hitting streak.
In 1973, Rose set a career-high with 230 basehits, his .338 batting average was the second highest in his career.
He scored 115 runs and batted in 64 and after the season, Rose was named Most Valuable Player of the National League.
Pete Rose often was and is described as gritty.
He always gave his best and did everything to win.
When on a field, Rose always was very passionate.
One of his trademarks was a head first slide, but also running hard into players trying to break up (double) plays.
Like during Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against New York Mets.
In the fifth inning, Rose was on first base when Joe Morgan hit a double play grounder to first baseman John Milner.
Trying to break up the double play, Rose slid hard into short stop Bud Harrelson, which led to a bench-clearing.
Three years earlier, during the All-Star Game in Cincinnati, Rose singled in the twelfth inning.
After having advanced, he scored from second base on a single and a following throw to the plate when he ran into catcher Ray Fosse whom he ran over to score the winning run.
Fosse sustained a fractured and separated shoulder, which oddly enough was not diagnosed until a year later, as X-rays initially had revealed no injuries.
After the collision, Fosse missed three games, then returned behind the plate for Cleveland Indians.
A year later, due to chronic pain, a re-examination followed, which revealed the fracture and separation, which hadn't healed correctly causing the pain.
Fosse continued to play through 1979.
From 1986 until his passing in 2021, Fosse was the popular color commentator for Oakland Athletics on NBC Sports.
During the 1975 season, Pete Rose became the prime third baseman, the position he would play through 1978.
George Foster became one of the prime outfielders.
It was in 1975 and 1976, when Cincinnati won the World Series, that the team had its most successful line-up, which included the 'Great Eight': Bench (catcher), Pérez (first base), Morgan (second base), Concepción (short stop), Rose (third base), Foster (leftfield), Gerónimo (centerfield) and Griffey (rightfield).
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...Pete Rose remembered by ESPN... |
In 1970 and 1972, Cincinnati Reds had reached the World Series, but ended up empty-handed.
In 1970, the Series was won by Baltimore Orioles 4-1, led by its legendary third baseman Brooks Robinson, who made some great defensive plays.
Robinson passed away almost exactly one year ago, on September 26.
In 1972, Cincinnati ended up short against Oakland Athletics, 4-3.
At that moment, Oakland was the most successful team, winning the World Series three years in a row (1972-1974), led by iconic players such as Sal Bando, Bert Campaneris, Reggie Jackson, Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace and pitchers Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, Ken Holtzman, Catfish Hunter and Blue Moon Odom.
Unfortunately, three of these players also recently passed away: Bando and Blue last year, Holtzman in April of this year.
Cincinnati Reds, which already dominated the National League in these years, then won the World Series in 1975 and 1976.
In 1975, Cincinnati won 4-3 against Boston Red Sox and in 1976, the team swept New York Yankees, 4-0.
In 1975, it marked the first time that Cincinnati won the title since 1940.
Pete Rose led the team with 10 basehits and a .370 average and was named Most Valuable Player.
Like Cincinnati, Boston and New York also had several wellknown players back then.
Amongst the Boston-players were Carlton Fisk, Carl Yastrzemski, Rick Burleson, Fred Lynn, Dwight Evans and pitchers Luis Tiant, Bill Lee and Reggie Cleveland.
Players of New York, which was led by famous Manager Billy Martin, included Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles, Chris Chambliss, Mickey Rivers, Roy White, Willie Randolph and pitchers Catfish Hunter, Sparky Lyle, Ed Figueroa and Doyle Alexander.
In the meantime, Pete Rose, who had won the Roberto Clemente Award in 1976, kept on piling up basehits and accomplished more highlights.
In April 1978, he hit three homeruns in one game for the only time in his career.
On May 5, six days later, he recorded his 3,000th basehit, becoming the thirteenth player in history to do so.
Also in 1978, Rose got a 44-game hitting streak (June 14-August 1), tying the National League-record, set by Willie Keeler in 1897, more than 80 years earlier.
Rose threatened the all-time record of 56, set by New York Yankees-legend Joe DiMaggio in 1941, which by the way was Rose's year of birth.
...Pete Rose scores for Philadelphia vs. Houston Astros...
...in 10th inning of Game 4 National League Championship...
...Series 1980; Bruce Bochy is the catcher... |
After the 1978 season, Pete Rose was a Free Agent and in December of that year, he signed with Philadelphia Phillies.
Rose signed a 4-year contract worth 3.2 million dollar, which made him the highest paid player in not only the four major American sports (baseball, basketball, American football, ice hockey), but in all team sports.
In Philadelphia, Rose joined a team which also had its star-players, including Mike Schmidt, who was the third baseman.
And so, Rose moved to first base, which was his prime position while playing for Philadelphia.
Amongst Rose's teammates in all his five seasons with Philadelphia were Greg Gross, Garry Maddox, Mike Schmidt and pitchers Steve Carlton, Lary Christenson, Tug McGraw, Ron Reed and Dick Ruthven.
Other teammates included Ramon Aviles, Bob Boone, Larry Bowa, Greg Luzinski, Gary Mathews, Bake McBride, Tim McCarver, Lonnie Smith, Manny Trillo, Del Unser, George Vukovich, John Vukovich, Ozzie Virgil, Ivan De Jesus and pitchers Warren Brusstar, Marty Bystrom, Nino Espinosa, Sparky Lyle and Kevin Saucier.
In his last season, Rose was re-united with his former Reds-teammates Joe Morgan and Tony Pérez.
In the first three seasons, Philadelphia was led by Manager Dallas Green.
In the next two seasons, Rose's former teammate Pat Corrales was the Manager.
With Philadelphia, Rose won three Division-titles and reached the World Series twice.
Philadelphia won the final in 1980, which was the first World Series-title for the club.
In 1983, Philadelphia lost the Series.
In his first season with Philadelphia, Rose batted .331 and led the League with a .418 on-base percentage.
He collected 208 basehits and scored 90 runs.
After dropping to .282 in 1980, Rose batted .325 in 1981 in a season that was split in two halves due to players-strike.
In that season, he led the League with 140 basehits.
Also in 1981, on August 10, in a home-game against St. Louis Cardinals, Rose broke the all-time record for most basehits in the National League when he recorded his 3,631st basehit of off Mark Littell.
With that, he passed Cardinals-legend Stan Musial, who congratulated him in person on the field after having reached the accomplishment.
...Pete Rose breaks the National League hit-record in 1981...
...and is congratulated by legend Stan Musial... |
In 1983, Rose's average dropped to .245 in what was his worst season, collecting 'only' 121 basehits.
As mentioned, Philadelphia won the World Series in 1980, defeating Kansas City Royals, 4-2.
In Game 6, closer Tug McGraw struckout Willie Wilson to end the game, then jumped up in the air, which became a wellknown photo.
Amongst the Royals-players were Willie Aikens, George Brett, José Cardenal, Clint Hurdle, Hal McRae, Amos Otis, Darrell Porter, Jamie Quirk, U L Washington (who passed away in March), Frank White, Willie Wilson and pitchers Ken Brett, Steve Busby, Rawly Eastwick, Larry Gura, Dennis Leonard, Dan Quisenberry and Paul Splittorf.
In 1983, Philadelphia lost 4-1 to Baltimore Orioles, whose roster included Rick Dempsey, Rich Dauer, Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken Jr., Al Bumbry, John Lowenstein, Ken Singleton and pitchers Mike Boddicker, Mike Flanagan, Dennis Martínez, Scott McGregor and Jim Palmer.
Philadelphia wanted Rose to come back in 1984, but the veteran player didn't accept a role of limited playing time.
And so, he became a Free Agent in October.
In January 1984, Rose signed with Montreal Expos.
Rose played in 95 games for the Canadian club, hitting .259 with 72 basehits.
On April 13, 1984, exactly 21 years after he had recorded his first basehit, Rose connected for his 4,000th basehit.
With that, he became only the second player in Major League-history with 4,000 basehits.
The only other player was Ty Cobb, who finished his illustrous career with a record 4,191 basehits in his 24 Major League-seasons (1905-1928), including 22 with Detroit Tigers.
While playing for Montreal, amongst his teammates were wellknown players as Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Terry Francona, Tim Raines, Derrel Thomas, Tim Wallach and pitchers Bill Gullickson, Bob James, Charlie Lea, Jeff Reardon and Steve Rogers.
He also was re-united with former Reds-teammates Dan Driessen and Doug Flynn.
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...In 1985, Pete Rose becomes the All-Time Hit-Leader... |
In August 1984 Rose returned to Cincinnati, as he was traded by Montreal for infielder Tom Lawless.
Rose, who now was 43, also was named as the new Manager of Cincinnati, succeeding Vern Rapp.
With that, Rose became player/manager.
In the remainder of the season, Rose played in 26 games and batted .365 with 35 basehits and 11 runs batted in.
Rose also was the player/manager in 1985 and 1986.
He then played in respectively 119 and 72 games, hitting .264 and .219.
In 1985, he hit the final two homeruns in his career.
On September 11, 1985, Pete Rose broke the all-time basehit record of Ty Cobb.
On that day, in a home game against San Diego Padres, facing Eric Show, Rose hit a line drive into left/centerfield for basehit 4,192.
After having reached first base, the game was halted to honor Rose.
He was congratulated at first base by Cincinnati Reds-owner Marge Schott and his then 15-year old son Pete Jr., who embraced his teary-eyed father.
Pete Jr. would play in the Minor Leagues for sixteen years and played 11 games in the Majors for Cincinnati in 1997.
Rose played in his final game on August 17, 1986.
He unofficially retired in November.
In his last three seasons with Cincinnati, amongst his teammates were Cesar Cedeńo, Dave Concepción, Dan Driessen, Nick Esasky, Tom Foley, Wayne Krenchicki, Eddie Milner, Ron Oester, Dave Parker, Tony Pérez, Gary Redus, Dave Van Gorder, Duane Walker, Buddy Bell, Eric Davis, Max Venable, Bo Diaz, Barry Larkin, Paul O'Neill and pichers Mario Soto, Tom Browning, John Franco, Frank Pastore and John Denny.
Pérez retired after the 1986 season, having played in 20 seasons, including 16 with Cincinnati.
Concepción would play until 1988 and played his entire 19-year career for Cincinnati.
In his impressive career of 24 seasons, Rose finished with a record 4,256 basehits, including 746 doubles, 135 triples and 160 homeruns, hitting .303.
He scored 2,165 runs and batted in 1,314.
Rose played in 3,562 games, which is still a Major League-record.
Other Major League-records include most plate appearances (15,890), most at bats (14,053), most singles (3,215), most times on base (5,929) and most outs made (10,328).
He also has several Major League-records for switch-hitters, as well as National League-records.
Rose played in 17 All-Star Games.
...CNN Breaking News on August 24, 1989 when the lifetime ban...
...of Pete Rose is announced by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti... |
In his career, Pete Rose collected 200 or more basehits in a season ten times.
This also was a record, which was tied in 2010 by Ichiro Suzuki.
After he had retired as a player, Rose continued as Manager of Cincinnati Reds from 1987 on.
Many of his teammates played for Rose when he was the Manager, including Bell, Browning, Concepción, Davis, Diaz, Esasky, Franco, Larkin, Oester, O'Neill, Parker, Soto and Venable, but also Dave Collins, Terry Francona, Bill Gullickson, Jerry Reuss, Ken Griffey Sr. (who returned in 1988), Lloyd McClendon, Jose Rijo, Chris Sabo, Todd Benzinger, Norm Charlton and Kent Tekulve.
Rose led his final game as Manager on August 21, 1989.
As Manager, Rose led his team to 426 victories, while losing 388 games.
During the 1988 season, Rose was suspended for 30 days for shoving umpire Dave Pallone.
With two outs in the ninth inning of a game against New York Mets, Pallone didn't immediately made a safe-call when the first baseman supposedly was off the bag.
While the first baseman waited for the call, the runner from third base scored what would be the winning run.
A heated argument followed and at one moment, Rose pushed Pallone backwards.
However, Rose stated that he did that after Pallone had touched him in the face with a finger during the discussion.
Rose was handed a 30 day suspension by then-National League President A. Bartlett Giamatti.
From February 1989 on, reports that Rose had bet on baseball-games were investigated.
It also was stated that he supposedly had bet on Reds-games while playing and managing there in the final years of his career.
Rose was questioned by Giamatti and then-Commissioner Peter Ueberroth.
Rose confessed that he had bet on American football, basketball and horseracing, but never on baseball.
In following years, Rose always kept denying that he had bet on baseball.
In April 1989, Giamatti succeeded Ueberroth as Commissioner after being elected earlier in the year.
In May, a report was submitted to Giamatti with alleged betting activities of Rose in 1985, 1986 and 1987.
On August 24, 1989, Pete Rose voluntarily accepted a permanent place on the ineligible list and stepped down as Manager of Cincinnati.
According to the rules, Rose could apply for reinstatement in one year.
However, it was reported that Giamatti said there had been no deals for reinstatement or a number of years to apply.
Eight days later, on September 1, Giamatti suffered a heart attack and unexpected passed away at age 51.
Giamatti had been Commissioner for only five months.
He was succeeded by Fay Vincent.
In February 1991, the Hall of Fame voted to exclude persons on the permanently ineligible list from being inducted.
From 1992 on, Pete Rose applied for reinstatement a few times with Vincent, his successor Bud Selig and current Commissioner Rob Manfred, but no actions were taken.
Manfred rejected request in December 2015, as well as in 2022.
...Pete Rose addresses Reds-fans on the day his statue...
...in unveiled at Great American Ball Park in 2017... |
In 2004, in his autobiography, Rose admitted that he had bet on baseball while being a player and manager of Cincinnati.
But he said he never betted against the team.
Besides the betting accusations, Rose was found guilty to two charges of filing false income tax returns in 1990.
For that, he served a jail-sentence of five months in a minimum security prison in Marion, Illinois.
Despite his permanent suspension, Pete Rose was allowed by Major League Baseball to attend a few special moments.
In 1999, Rose was selected as one of the nine outfielders on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, as voted by fans.
The top two vote-getters from each position, nine outfielders and six pitchers made the team.
A special panel added five legendary players to make it a 30-man team.
The members of the Major League Baseball All-Century Team were pitchers Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, Cy Young, Roger Clemens, Bob Gibson, Walter Johnson, Warren Spahn, Christy Mathewson and Lefty Grove, catchers Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra, first basemen Lou Gehrig and Mark McGwire, second basemen Jackie Robinson and Rogers Hornsby, third basemen Mike Schmidt and Brooks Robinson, short stops Cal Ripken Jr., Ernie Banks and Honus Wagner and outfielders Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Ken Grifffey Jr., Pete Rose and Stan Musial.
Before Game 2 of the 1999 World Series, the team was announced and all living members attended.
Rose got a standing ovation of several minutes when he was introduced.
In September 2013, Rose also got permission to participate in pre-game ceremonies during two home-games of Cincinnati Reds when former player Joe Morgan was honored during Joe Morgan Weekend.
On those two days, 'The Great Eight' were re-united for the first time in 37 years.
In 2015, Rose was allowed to participate in pre-game activities before the All-Star Game in Cincinnati.
And in 2016, he attended his induction into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, while his uniform number 14 also was retired.
In 2017, a statue of Rose taking a head-first sliding, was unveiled in front of Great American Ball Park, the home-stadium of Cincinnati Reds.
When that happened, Rose was able to address the Cincinnati-fans during a pre-game ceremony.
From 1998 through 2000, Rose appeared several times as ring announcer at events of the World Wrestling Federation (since 2002 re-named World Wrestling Entertainment) for whom he did some more activities in following years.
In 2004, Rose was the first in the celebrity-category to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Only fourteen persons have been elected in this category.
In 2014, Rose was Guest Manager of Bridgeport Bluefish for one day.
This was no violation of his ban, as the team played in an Independent League, which had no affiliation with Major League Baseball.
...Host Kevin Burkhardt (left), Raul Ibanez, Pete Rose and...
...Frank Thomas crack up during the taping for an intro for...
...Fox Sports during the American League Division Series in 2015... |
From May 2015 through August 2017, Pete Rose was an studio analyst for Major League-games for Fox Sports.
For many years, Pete Rose frequently appeared at autograph events throughout the country, which earned him a lot of money.
He often added 'Hit King' to his autograph.
Rose had weekly autograph-sessions in casinos in his home-town Las Vegas, where he met and greeted many fans with whom he also posed for photos.
With some of his 'Great Eight'-teammates, Rose was at an autograph event in Franklin, Tennessee on Sunday
It was reported that Rose appeared somewhat quiet during the event and clearly was not as cheerful and exuberant as usual.
The next day, he passed away in his home in Las Vegas.
Pete Rose was a colorful person on and off the field, who belongs in the Hall of Fame.
He will surely be missed by many baseball-fans.
Bob Castellini, principal owner and managing partner of Cincinnati Reds, reacted:
,,Our hearts are deeply saddened by the news of Pete’s passing.
He was one of the fiercest competitors the game has ever seen, and every team he played for was better because of him.
Pete was a Red through and through.
No one loved the game more than Pete and no one loved Pete more than Reds Country.
We must never forget what he accomplished''.
Amongst several former players who reacted to the passing of Pete Rose was longtime teammate Johnny Bench.
,,My heart is sad.
I loved you Peter Edward.
You made all of us better.
No matter the life we led.
No one can replace you'', Bench said.
Major League Baseball issued the following short statement:
,,Major League Baseball extends its deepest condolences to Pete Rose's family, his friends across the game, and the fans of his hometown of Cincinnati, Philadelphia and beyond who admired his greatness, grit and determination on the field of play.
May he rest in peace''.
There also was a short statement from the National Baseball Hall of Fame:
,,The Hall of Fame remembers Pete Rose, MLB’s all-time hits and games played leader, who passed away on Monday.
‘Charlie Hustle’ won three batting titles, earned 17 All-Star Game selections and won three World Series championships''.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News offers his condolences to the family and friends of Pete Rose, as well as the Cincinnati Reds-organization, and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(October 4)
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