In the wake of the death of baseball great Pete Rose, tributes to one of the sport’s most decorated and complicated players are beginning to pour in.
Rose died early Monday evening at the age of 83 at his home in Las Vegas. His cause of death is unknown.
Rose is known for many things. His 4,256 hits are the most of any player in Major League Baseball history and he was a cult hero in his hometown of Cincinnati, the city where he played most of his career and enjoyed six seasons of success.
At the same time, his legacy has been complicated by his actions off the field, which included receiving a lifetime ban from the sport and being labeled “permanently ineligible” by the Baseball Hall of Fame.
As the debate rages on whether he deserved his reinstatement or not, fans of the sport took the time to offer their thoughts and condolences on the loss of a sporting icon.
Tributes are pouring in for baseball great Pete Rose following his death at the age of 83
Rose is known for his 17 seasons in Cincinnati and for winning a World Series in Philadelphia
The Cincinnati Reds, the team Rose was most known for during his playing days, changed their profile picture on Twitter to a black No. 14 and posted that they were “heartbroken” to learn of the passing of arguably the greatest player in the game franchise. history.
Barry Larkin, a former teammate and player for Rose on the Reds, tweeted: “RIP Hit King Pete Rose.”
Former MLB slugger and two-time World Series winner Jose Canseco tweeted: “RIP Pete Rose. Another player then [sic] should be in the COURT.”
Canadian sports journalist Hayley McGoldrick wrote: “I just called my dad about Pete Rose’s death as if he was a family member. I think my father loved that man more than me.”
“RIP to the Hit King, the legendary Charlie Hustle Pete Rose,” CBS Sports host Adam Schein wrote. “It is a damnable shame and embarrassment to baseball that he did not take his rightful place in the Baseball Hall of Fame during his lifetime.”
Athletic’s Chris Vannini also wrote a tribute, saying: ‘RIP Pete Rose, the greatest hitter there ever was. He should be in the Hall of Fame, and it should have happened while he was alive, but he couldn’t get out of the way, and it’s really sad.”
Like the man himself, some tributes to Rose were more complicated given all the controversies that surrounded him in his life. As a result, some tributes reflected that.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg wrote, “There’s never been another player like Pete Rose in my life. This is how I will remember him, playing the game harder than anyone ever has.
A number of tweets in the immediate aftermath of the news paid tribute to Rose
Few athletes will leave behind more complicated legacies. Today is not the day for that.
“Today, let’s thank Charlie Hustle for playing the way we always dreamed we would if given the chance.”
Cincinnati radio host Mo Egger tweeted: “Pete Rose means a lot to a lot of people in this city. You might understand why. You may not understand why. But he does. For better or for worse.
“Whatever the second half of his life represented – and it has made his legacy very complex – Pete is identified more than anyone with a period in Cincinnati that still means a lot to a lot of people here. And part of many people’s youth has simply passed away.’
In a series of tweets, Cubs writer Sara Sanchez wrote: “Pete Rose is a very good example of a man with a unique skill and drive that made him better at one thing (getting hits) than anyone in the history of the world. He was also undeniably flawed in significant and frankly criminal ways that should not be ignored today or any day.
“I don’t want anyone to misunderstand me because of the character limits: I think there’s a debate going on about Rose’s estate/COURT case/whatever regarding gambling. I think the allegations of statutory rape are much more sickening and I’m not interested in any debate about that.
‘Think of the hits and skills. It’s second to none. Just don’t forget that there are real demons and teenage girls whose lives were turned upside down in the aftermath of that career. Those people are at least as important as any hit.’
Other tributes acknowledged that Rose had a more complicated legacy than other players
Rose and former MLB commissioner Bart Giamatti agreed to a lifetime ban in August 1989 after an investigation by attorney John Dowd revealed that he had placed numerous bets on the Reds, violating one of baseball’s oldest rules.
Although he is not accused of gambling against the Reds, Rose’s gambling posed a number of problems for the MLB, which felt the sanctity of the game was being threatened.
For example, Rose could have held back the team’s best relief pitchers when he had no money on the line, while pushing them to pitch when he gambled on the Reds.
Rose has applied for reinstatement to baseball and Hall of Fame eligibility several times in his life, most recently in late 2022.
Manfred argued in a 2015 denial of Rose’s reinstatement request that he had “provided no credible evidence of a re-arranged life, either through an honest acceptance by him of his misdeeds so clearly established in the Dowd Report, nor through a rigorous, self-righteous attitude’. conscious and sustained program to avoid all circumstances that led to his permanent exclusion.’
In addition to his gambling problems, allegations have also surfaced in recent years that Rose had had 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. .
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.