Baseball legend Pete Rose died Monday at the age of 83. He is the all-time MLB hits leader at 4,256 and also sits atop the record book for games played (3,562). The Reds star was handed a lifetime ban by the MLB in 1989 due to his gambling scandal.
From ESPN:
A 17-time All-Star, the switch-hitting Rose played on three World Series winners. He was the National League MVP in 1973 and World Series MVP two years later. He holds the major league record for games played (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890) and the NL record for the longest hitting streak (44). He was the leadoff man for one of baseball's most formidable lineups with the Reds' championship teams of 1975 and 1976, with teammates that included Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Joe Morgan.
All of this would come crashing down in 1989, however, when an MLB investigation into Rose's gambling habit was opened up. The MLB found that the "accumulated testimony of witnesses, together with the documentary evidence and telephone records reveal extensive betting activity by Pete Rose in connection with professional baseball and, in particular, Cincinnati Reds games, during the 1985, 1986, and 1987 baseball seasons."
Rose admitted to the gambling in a 2004 memoir, Play Hungry: "I don't think betting is morally wrong. I don't even think betting on baseball is morally wrong. There are legal ways, and there are illegal ways, and betting on baseball the way I did was against the rules of baseball."
Sounds to me like when he bet on his team he bet on them to win. And that's at least the bet of a winner, no matter your stance on gambling.
President Donald Trump chimed in yesterday:
Rose is the all-time leader in hits, and he surely deserves a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame. We'll wait until the day comes, and we'll meet you right back here when it does.
