Controversial baseball legend Pete Rose was still harboring hopes of a “second chance” in the sport just weeks before his death.
Rose, who was banned from baseball for life in 1989, died Monday at his home in Las Vegas at the age of 83, without the cause of death being revealed.
Although considered one of the greatest players in history, the MLB icon’s career was highly controversial after he was banned from the sport for betting on the Cincinnati Reds as both a player and manager of the team.
And a few weeks before his death, Rose admitted he was still hoping for forgiveness.
“I can’t change Pete Rose’s history,” he told the Texas Television Station KLTV in an interview published on September 7.
Pete Rose still harbored hopes for a “second chance” in baseball weeks before his death
“I keep convincing myself or telling myself, ‘Hang in there, Pete, you’ll get a second chance.’
“This is the only country that gives you a second chance,” Rose added. “I keep hoping that one day I will get a second chance, and that I won’t need a third.”
In addition to his gambling scandal, Rose has also been accused in recent years of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a minor in the 1970s.
In 2017, the Phillies canceled his induction into the team’s Wall of Fame after a Cincinnati woman said in federal court that she had a sexual relationship with the married Rose that began during his first stint with the Reds in 1973, when she was 14 or 15. .
However, Rose was never charged with statutory rape and the statute of limitations has expired.
Although he has reportedly admitted to the relationship, he has maintained that he believed she was 16 at the time of the affair, making her old enough in the state of Ohio to consent to sexual activity.
Rose, who died Monday at the age of 83, was banned from baseball for life in 1989
The MLB legend spent 17 seasons in Cincinnati and won a World Series in Philadelphia
In recent years, Rose has performed at Reds games in Cincinnati, where he remains considered one of the best players in team history and one of the city’s favorite homegrown athletes.
Rose spent most of his baseball career with the Cincinnati Reds, but also enjoyed stints with the Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos.
Baseball’s all-time leader in hits (4,256), singles (3,215), games played (3,562) and at-bats (14,053), the Cincinnati native won a pair of World Series with the Reds, another with the Phillies, while hitting . 303 for his career.
A 17-time All-Star, Rose was also the 1973 National League MVP, the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1975 World Series MVP.
He returned to Cincinnati, where he ended his career as a player-manager for the Reds and retired from playing for good in 1986.