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Pete RosePete Rose (Peter Edward Rose) was born on April 14, 1941 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Rose grew up in a working class family. Pete's father, Harry, wanted him to play sports. Harry Rose played semi-pro football. Pete attended Western Hills High School where he played baseball and football. During his ninth grade year, he neglected his studies so much that one of his teachers decided that Pete would either have to repeat the year or attend summer school. Pete's dad decided that it would be better to repeat the year rather than lose a summer of baseball to summer school. Eventualy, Pete Rose was banned from his high school baseball team due to poor grades. He joined a Dayton, Ohio amateur club instead where he batted .500 against grown men. After graduating in 1960, the Cincinnati Reds offered Pete Rose a $7,000 contract. They told him he would receive another $500 if he made it to the Major Leagues and stayed there for the entire season. After signing with the Reds on July 8, 1960, Pete was assigned to Geneva Redlegs of the New York-Penn League. In 1961, he moved up the minor league ladder to the class D, Tampa Tarpons. Pete hit .331 for the Tarpons and set a new league record for triples. But he also led the league in errors that season. Class A, Macon, Georgia, was Pete's next stop. He batted .330 and led the league in triples and runs scored. During a spring training game against the Chicago White Sox, Don Blasingame, the Reds regular second baseman, pulled a groin muscle. So, on opening day, April 8, 1963, Pete Rose debuted as the Cincinnati Reds second baseman against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pete walked in his first Major League at bat. After an 0 for 11, he got his first big league hit off of the Pirtaes Bob Friend on April 13. Pete ended that season batting .273 and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award. During a game on April 23, 1964, Rose struck out in the ninth inning. In anger, he threw his bat into the crowd, hitting a young boy in the face. Pete was suspended for eight games. In 1965, Pete Rose led the National League with 209 hits and 670 At Bats. he also batted .302. This would be the first of 10 seasons in which Pete would get at least 200 hits and the first of 15 consecutive .300 seasons. Rose hit a career high 16 home runs in 1966. Starting the 1967 season, he was switched from second base to right field. Pete started off the 1968 season with a 22 game hitting streak. He missed three weeks of that season with a broken thumb and had a 19 game hitting streak late in the season. He finished the year going 6 for 9 to edge out Matty Alou for the batting title. 1969 would be Pete's best offensive season. he led the league in runs scored with 120. He collected 218 hits and walked 88 times from the lead off spot. He added 33 doubles, 11 triples and 16 home runs. Pete drove in 82 runs that year and slugged for a .512 average. A career best. His .432 On Base Percentage was also a career high. Pete and the Pirates Roberto Clemente were tied for the batting race on the last day of the 1969 season. Pete bunted for a hit in his last at bat to beat Clemente with a .348 average. Pete Rose won his third and final batting title in 1973 when he hit .338. He had a career high 230 hits and was named the National League Most Valuable Player. On May 5, 1978, Rose became the 13th and youngest player in major league history to collect his 3,000th career hit, with a single off Expos pitcher Steve Rogers. On June 14, Pete began a hitting streak that lasted 44 games. Pete Rose became a free agent in 1979. He signed a four year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies for $3.2 million. At the time, he was the highest paid athlete in any team sport. Rose would lead the Phillies to the World Championship in 1980. Pete signed a one year contract with the Montreal Expos in 1984. His double of of Jerry Koosman on April 13, was his 4,000th base hit. Only Ty Cobb had more hits. Pete's 4,000th hit came 21 years to the day after his first hit. On August 15, Pete was traded back to Cincinnati for Tom Lawless. He was immediately named player/manager. On September 11, 1985, Rose stroked a single to left center off San Diego Padre pitcher Eric Show. It was hit number 4,192. Pete Rose was now the all time Major League hits leader. August 17, 1986, Pete struck out against San Diego's Goose Goosage. It would be his final major league at bat. Pete Rose managed the Cincinnati Reds from August 15, 1984, to August 24, 1989. he compiled a record of 426-388. In 1989, lawyer John Dowd was hired to investigate gambling charges against Rose. The Dowd Report asserted that Rose bet on 52 Reds games in 1987, at a minimum of $10,000 a day. On August 24, 1989, he voluntarily accepted a permanent place on baseball’s ineligible list. Pete could apply for reinstaement after one year. In addition, the agreement explicitly stated that Rose was neither admitting nor denying any wrong doing. On April 21, 1990, Rose pleaded guilty to two charges of filing false income tax returns not showing income he received from selling autographs, memorabilia, and from horse racing winnings. he was sentenced to five months in federal prison and fined $50,000, being released on January 7, 1991, after having paid $366,041 in back taxes and interest. On February 4, 1991, the Baseball Hall of Fame voted to exclude permanently ineligibile players from being placed on their ballots. Under the Hall's rules, players may appear on the ballot for only fifteen years, beginning five years after they retire. Had he not been banned from baseball, Rose's name could have been on the ballot beginning in 1992 and ending in 2006. If he were to be reinstated now, he could be considered as a candidate by the Hall's Committee on Baseball Veterans, beginning in 2007. Pete Rose Stats and Awards: Major League Records: Most career hits - 4,256 Most career games played - 3,562 Most career at bats - 14,053 Most career singles - 3,315 Most career total bases by a switch hitter - 5,752 Most seasons of 200 or more hits - 10 Most consecutive seasons of 100 or more hits - 23 Most consecutive seasons with 600 or more at bats - 13 (1968-1980) Most seasons with 600 at bats - 17 Most seasons with 150 or more games played - 17 Most seasons with 100 or more games played - 23 Record for playing in the most winning games - 1,972 Only player in major league history to play more than 500 games at five different positions - 1B (939), LF (671), 3B (634), 2B (628), RF (595) National League Records: Most years played - 24 Most consecutive years played - 24 Most career runs - 2,165 Most career doubles - 746 Most career games with 5 or more hits - 10 Modern (post-1900) record for longest consecutive game hitting streak - 44 Modern record for most consecutive hitting streaks of 20 or more games - 7 Awards: NL MVP Award (1973) NL Rookie of the Year Award (1963) 17 All-Star selections Three World Series rings (1975, 1976, 1980) World Series MVP Award (1975) Two Gold Glove Awards (1969 and 1970, both as an outfielder) Roberto Clemente Award (1976) The Sporting News Player of the Year (1968) The Sporting News Sportsman of the Year (1985) The Sporting News Player of the Decade (1970s) |
