Athletes - Pete Rose

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Pete Rose

	Athletes - Pete Rose

Peter Edward "Pete" Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941 in Cincinnati, Ohio), nicknamed Charlie Hustle, is an American former player and manager in Major League Baseball who played from 1963 to 1986, best known for his many years with the Cincinnati Reds. Rose, a switch hitter, is the all-time major league leader in hits (4256), games played (3562) and at bats (14,053). He won three World Series rings, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Gloves, the Rookie of the Year Award, and made 17 All-Star appearances at an unequalled five different positions (2B, LF, RF, 3B, 1B).

In August 1989, three years after he retired as an active player, Rose agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball amidst accusations that he gambled on baseball games while playing for and managing the Reds; this included betting on the Reds. After years of public denial, in 2004 he admitted the accusations of gambling were true but he had not bet against his team. After the initial ban the Baseball Hall of Fame had specified that individuals who are banned from the sport are ineligible for induction; those who were banned had previously been excluded by informal agreement among voters. The issue of his possible reinstatement and election to the Hall remains a contentious one throughout baseball.

Pre-professional career

Rose grew up in a working class area of nearby Anderson Ferry, Ohio as one of four children to Harry and LaVerne Rose, and was encouraged as a young boy to participate in sports. His father, who played semiprofessional football, was the biggest influence on Rose and his sports career. He played both baseball and football at Western Hills High School. Rose paid so little attention to his studies in ninth grade that his teacher decreed he would have to attend summer school or be held back. His father vetoed that idea: it was better for his son to repeat a year of school, Harry Rose said, than miss a season playing ball. Barred from his high school team because of his poor performance in class, he got onto a Dayton amateur club instead and batted .500 against grown men. By the time Rose had graduated in 1960, he had impressed the Reds enough for them to offer him a $7,000 contract, with $500 more if he made it all the way to the major leagues and managed to stay there for a full year.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Rose was signed by the Reds as an amateur free agent on July 8, 1960, and was assigned to the Geneva Redlegs of the New York-Penn League. In 1961 Rose was promoted to the Class D Tampa Tarpons of the Florida State League where he batted .331, set a league record for triples but led the league in fielding errors.

Rose's next move was to the Class A Macon, Georgia team, where he hit .330, leading the league in triples and runs scored. 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 witnessing Rose sprint to first base after drawing a walk. Despite (or perhaps because of) the manner in which Ford intended it, Rose adopted that nickname as a badge of honor.

Major Leagues

Early years

Rose made his debut on opening day, April 8, 1963 against the Pittsburgh Pirates and drew a walk. On April 11, Rose – who was 0-for-11 at the time – got his first Major League hit, 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.

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 Colt .45s rookie Ken Johnson the first pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter. Rose slumped late in the season, was benched, and finished with just a .269 average.

Rose came back in 1965 to lead the league in hits (209) and at-bats (670), and hit .312, the first of his 10 seasons with 200-plus hits and the first of 15 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 (including the All-Star Game) 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.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Pete Rose ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Pete Rose; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.