eter Edward "Pete" Rose, Sr., also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989.
Rose, a switch hitter, is the all-time Major League leader in hits, games played, at-bats, singles, and outs . He won three World Series rings, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Gloves, the Rookie of the Year Award, and also made 17 All-Star appearances at an unequaled five different positions .
In August 1989, three years after he retired as an active player, Rose agreed to permanent ineligibility from baseball amidst accusations that he gambled on baseball games while playing for and managing the Reds, including claims that
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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. In 2004, after years of public denial, Rose admitted to betting on baseball and on, but not against, the Reds. The issue of Rose's possible reinstatement and election to the Hall of Fame remains a contentious one throughout baseball. On June 22, 2015, ESPN concluded an investigation and determined that Rose bet on baseball while still a player, from 1984 to 1986. The investigation also made public the existence of records of bets made by Rose on baseball, which had been seized by US federal authorities from an associate of Rose. Early life Pete Rose was born April 14, 1941 in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of four children born to Harry Francis "Pete" and LaVerne Rose.
He was a member of the Order of DeMolay as a young boy, and was encouraged by his parents to participate in sports.
He played baseball and football at Western Hills High School. Although Rose was small for his age, he 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. At the end of the school year, Rose's teachers decreed that he would have to attend summer school or be held back. Harry Rose decided that it would be better for Pete to repeat a year of school than miss a summer playing baseball. Plus, it would give Pete an extra year to mature physically. When Pete reached his senior year, he had already used up his four years of sports eligibility, so in the spring of 1960, he joined the Class AA team sponsored by Frisch's Big Boy of Lebanon, Ohio in the Dayton Amateur League. He 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. Bloebaum was a "Bird dog" scout for the Reds and he pleaded the case for his nephew. The Reds, who had recently traded away a number of prospects who turned out to be very good, decided to take a chance on Pete. Upon his graduation from high school, Rose signed a professional
contract. Playing career Cincinnati Reds 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 him the derisive nickname "Charlie Hustle" after Rose sprinted to first base after drawing a walk. Despite the manner in which Ford intended it, Rose adopted that nickname as a badge of honor. In Ken Burns' documentary Baseball, 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 everyone could see was headed over everything. Rose made his major league debut on April 8, 1963 against the Pittsburgh Pirates and drew a walk. After going 0-for-11, Rose got his first Major League hit on April 13, a triple off Pittsburgh's Bob Friend. He hit .273 for the year and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, collecting 17 of 20 votes. Rose entered the US Army Reserves after the 1963 baseball season. He was assigned to Fort Knox for six months of active duty, which was followed by six years of regular attendance with a 478th Engineering Battalion USAR at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. At Fort Knox, he was a platoon guide and graduated from United States Army Basic Training January 18, 1964, one week before his marriage to Karolyn. Rose then remained at Fort Knox to assist the 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 company cook which entailed coming in early for the one weekend/month meeting so that he could get out early enough to participate in local Reds games. Other Reds players in the unit included Johnny Bench, Bobby Tolan and Darrel Chaney. Early years On April 23, 1964, in the top of the ninth inning of a scoreless game in Colt Stadium, Rose reached first base on an error and scored on another error to make Houston Astros' Ken Johnson the first pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter. However, he slumped late in the season, was benched, and finished with a .269 average. He continued to play in the Venezuelan Winter League with Leones del Caracas team during 1964–1965 season to improve his batting. Rose came back in 1965, leading the league in hits and at-bats, and finishing sixth in NL MVP balloting. It was the first of his ten 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 hit streak, missed three weeks with a broken thumb, then had a 19-game hit streak late in the season. He had to finish the season 6-for-9 to beat out 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. Rose had his best offensive season in 1969, setting a career high in batting and tying his career-best 16 homers. As the Reds' leadoff man, he was the team's catalyst, rapping 218 hits, walking 88 times and pacing the league in runs with 120. He hit 33 doubles, 11 triples, drove in 82 runs, slugged .512, and had a .432 OBP . Rose and Roberto Clemente were tied for the batting title going into the final game; Rose bunted for a base hit in his last at-bat of the season to beat out Clemente . 1970 All-Star game On July 14, 1970, in brand-new Riverfront Stadium, 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' 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 initially went undiagnosed until the following year. Fosse continued to hit for average, but with diminished power—he had 16 home runs before the break but only two after. He played through the 1979 season, but never approached his first-year numbers. The collision also caused Rose to miss three games with a bruised knee. Instead of being insulted, Garber took the comment as a compliment: "I said to myself, 'Well, thanks, Pete. That's how I try to pitch every time I'm in a game'." Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies had won the National League East three years running two of which were won with 101 win seasons, but were unable to make it to the World Series. In 1979, believing that he was the player who could bring them over the top, the Phillies temporarily made Rose the highest-paid athlete in team sports when they signed him to a four-year, $3.2-million contract as a free agent. With perennial All-Star Mike Schmidt firmly entrenched at third, Rose made the final position change of his career to first base. Although they missed the postseason in his first year with the team, they earned three division titles, two World Series appearances and their first ever World Series title in the following four years. The worst season of Rose's career was also the season that the Phillies played in their second World Series in four years, 1983. Rose batted only .245 with 121 hits, and found himself benched during the latter part of the 1983 season, appearing periodically to play and pinch hit. Rose did blossom as a pinch-hitter, with 8 hits in 21 at-bats, a .381 average. Rose bounced back during the postseason, batting .375 during the N.L. Playoffs against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and .312 in the World Series . Rose collected only one hit in his first eight at-bats in the first two games in Baltimore against the 1983 A.L. Champions. Rose found himself benched for game three back in Philadelphia, and would ground out in a pinch-hitting appearance. Rose objected to manager Paul Owens' decision to bench him in a pre-game interview with ABC's Howard Cosell. Rose bounced back with four hits in his last seven at-bats in the remaining two games, though the Phillies lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the 1983 World Series, 4 games to 1. Montreal Expos Rose was granted an unconditional release from the Phillies in late October 1983. Phillies management wanted to retain Rose for the 1984 season, but he refused to accept a more limited playing role. Months later, he signed a one-year contract with the Montreal Expos. On April 13, 1984, the 21st anniversary of his first career hit, Rose doubled off the Phillies' Jerry Koosman for his 4,000th career hit, becoming the second player in the 4000 hit club . The "Hit" King Rose was traded back to the Reds for infielder Tom Lawless on August 15, 1984 and was immediately named player-manager, replacing Reds' manager Vern Rapp. Though he only batted .259 for the Expos, his average jumped to .365 with the Reds, as he managed them to a 19–22 record for the remainder of the season. On September 11, 1985, Rose broke Ty Cobb's all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit, a single to left-center field off San Diego Padres pitcher Eric Show. According to its web site, MLB.com, Major League Baseball continues to recognize Cobb's final hit total as 4,191, though
of the greatest knuckleball pitchers in the MLB. His story to never give up, no matter what life throws at
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player of all time, but a great person, die in the form of George Herman “Babe”