Author’s note I grew up in Northern Illinois in the early 1960’s. In my hometown, that meant spending all my summers playing baseball and listening to Hall of Fame player-manager Lou Boudreau broadcast Chicago Cubs baseball games. Lou had what was known as a high baseball I.Q. He had a great sense of humor and was adored by the Cubs fans he addressed 162 times a year. The Cubs played teams with Pete Rose many times over those years. Lou would describe Rose’s hitting ability and credit his baseball longevity as very positive, But it was clear in his comments that he felt Pete was not well liked around the league. Lou was my first sport hero. He deserved to be in the Hall. Stats prove that Pete also deserves to be in the Hall as well. But he is no hero.
Known universally as “Charlie Hustle,” Pete Rose remains the all-time Major League Baseball hits leader with 4256 hits. He wasn’t the most physically gifted athlete, but he was famous for sprinting to first base on a walk, diving headfirst into bases, and playing multiple positions. Pete played until he was 45 years old. He had a relentless drive to surpass Ty Cobb’s total hits record.
The 1970 All-Star Game, at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, was tied at 4-4 with two out in the bottom of the 12th inning. Rose was on second base when Jim Hickman lined a single into center field. Rose rounded third and headed for the plate. Waiting for the throw from the outfield was Ray Fosse, catcher for the American League team. Rose did not slide, he barreled into Fosse to score the winning run. Fosse suffered a shoulder injury which plagued him for the rest of his career. Rose never apologized for injuring Fosse in what was largely a meaningless exhibition game.
As manager of the Reds, Rose fell under the scrutiny of MLB after betting slips belonging to Rose were found in an Ohio restaurant. Reports later identified that the owner of the restaurant, Ron Peters, as well as one of Rose’s friends, Paul Janszen, were running bets for Rose.
Pete Rose was banned from baseball in August 1989 by then-Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti. This ban stemmed from an investigation that revealed Rose had placed bets on Major League games, including games involving the Cincinnati Reds, while he was managing the team. MLB commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti ran a full investigation beginning in April 1989. The investigation revealed that not only was Rose betting on games, but that he’d even consider throwing games if there was a large enough bet. .
According to Phil Mushnick of the New York Post, it has been reported that Rose took amphetamines to supplement his own natural energy level. Rose acknowledged that he had a sexual relationship with a teenager (16 year old) when he was 34 years old and married. At that time 16 was the legal age of consent in Ohio.
President Trump met with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in April 2025 where they discussed Rose. “I met with President Trump two weeks ago … and one of the topics was Pete Rose, but I’m not going beyond that,” Manfred said at the time. “He’s said what he said publicly. I’m not going beyond that in terms of what the back and forth was.” President Trump had advocated for Rose’s reinstatement, and earlier this year said he would “be signing a complete pardon of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on his team winning”. But Trump’s support for Rose started long before that. Prior to Ohio’s presidential primary in 2016, Trump told a crowd in the state: “We got to let Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame,” per Cincinnati.com.
I.M.H.O.
Pete Rose was a controversial figure, celebrated for his on-field accomplishments but also criticized for off-field actions and gambling habits. Some individuals, like former promoter Tom Bunevich, described Rose as one of the most difficult superstars to endure, both in person and at card shows. Even when Rose admitted to gambling on baseball, he did so initially in his own book. Some claimed that it was designed to increase book revenue. He claimed he never bet against his team or managed differently in the games on which he gambled. He did not comment on how his bookie treated the game action on the games in which he did not bet on his team to win.
Not every baseball player in the Hall of Fame was a nice guy. The player that Rose eclipsed to get the hits title was Ty Cobb. Cobb was believed to be the most hated ballplayer of his day due to his dirty play. The likelihood of Rose being elected into the Hall is problematic. There is his character issue, his on-field accomplishments, and the influence by President Trump that may have been the final nudge to lift the permanent ban into a lifetime ban. The inclusion of the Black Sox conspirators to the lifetime ban release may have been a smoke screen to dilute the Rose ban controversy. The bottom line is that Rose gambled, and more than that he gambled on baseball. And even more than THAT, he gambled on his own team . Rose broke the rules then he lied and he lied and he lied. He denied the betting for years, but signed a deal and entered a no-contest plea to the charges against him from MLB to accept his ban. We like our heroes to be a little humble. Pete Rose is far from that. Ultimately, Pete Rose’s character may keep him out of the Hall, but that would be unfair.
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Life is not a Spectator Sport 
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