Reds Legend Pete Rose Passes Away At 83 Years Old

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Pete Rose has the most hits in baseball history. 

Pete Rose was suspended for life after betting on baseball. 

Pete Rose was a three time World Series champion. 

Pete Rose was one of the most complicated figures in sports history.

I still don't know how I feel about Rose but one thing can't be argued.

Pete Rose was a great baseball player. 

The "Does Pete Rose belong in the Hall Of Fame" debate has oddly clouded his career. Let's talk about his interesting playing career first. He's not only the all-time MLB leader in hits but also Games, At Bats and Singles. He's the last player-manager and he retired nearly 40 years ago. Will we ever see another one again?

One thing we will never see again is a player like Pete Rose. I don't even mean his greatness. His career was fucking weird. He started 1303 games as an outfielder, 905 as a first baseman, 627 as a third baseman and 600 as a second baseman. You so rarely see that but without Rose's defensive flexibility, he would never have become the all-time Hit King. Remember, he played his entire career in the National League when they didn't have a DH.

Rose was also a champion. He was a key member on the 1970's Big Red Machine teams that went to four World Series (1970, 72, 75-76) and won two (1975-76). Since then, only the 77-78 Yankees, 92-93 Blue Jays and 1998-2000 Yankees have been repeat World Series winners. Pete Rose was the 1975 World Series MVP. The 1976 Reds swept the playoffs by going 3-0 in the NLCS and beating the Yankees in 4.

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He left the Reds after 1978 and joined the Phillies as a 38 year old free agent. He wound up being part of the 1980 Phillies who were the first Phillies team to ever win a World Series. In 1983, they jokingly were called the Wheeze Kids because the team had Rose (42 years old), Tony Perez (41), Ron Reed (40), Joe Morgan (39), Steve Carlton (38) and Tug McGraw (38). That group of old guys along with Mike Schmidt brought the Phillies all the way back to another World Series but they were beaten by the Orioles in the most recent title that franchise has won.

Pete Rose went to six World Series and won three. You can call Pete Rose a lot of things but you have to make sure to call him a winner.

He played far too long. His WAR from 1982-86 was -2.5. He was chasing the hit record so one hand, you can understand. But on the other hand, those 85-86 Reds teams that he finished his career with were pretty good and would have much better served with a first baseman that wasn't slugging .301 in 773 plate appearances. Remember, he was the manager so he was the one writing his own name in the lineup over better players like Nick Esasky.

But even that is complicated as the Reds would have been likely better with Esasky playing more but I doubt many Reds fans are telling their kids and grandkids they saw Esasky play.

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Pete Rose was kind of shitty manager. Most great players are. It's hard to break down to guys just hanging on what they should do when the game came so easily to Rose. Ted Williams, Ryne Sandberg and other greats had similar struggles. The year after Rose was suspended, they won the World Series. Lou Piniella wasn't half the player Rose was but he was a much better player.

I can forgive Rose for being a mediocre manager but not for betting on baseball while being the manager. Don't forget that he also did so as a player.

SOURCE - Rose initially denied betting on baseball for years, but then in 2002 he admitted to having bet on the sport as manager of the Reds. In 2015, he finally admitted to also betting as a player. Rose's bets were made in violation of MLB's Rule 21(d), which reads: 

Rule 21 MISCONDUCT, (d) BETTING ON BALL GAMES, Any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible.

As a manager, he would bet only on certain games. Yes, he would bet mostly on the Reds but what does that say about games he didn't bet on? Was he saving his best closer John Franco for games he put a wager on? If you want the sport to be taken seriously, you can't allow that.

Should Rose be in the Hall of Fame now that he's gone? Maybe have a section of the museum to talk about his amazing career but don't give him a plaque and actually induct him? Even writing that seems kind of a lame half measure. Maybe you do induct him. He's gone. It's for the fans now.

Pete Rose lived an improbably complicated and interesting life. We'll never see another career like his again. He had 4,256 hits. No player since has had 3,500! He also never had a 17 home run season. Pete Rose was truly one of one.

So, I have a hard time understanding how to feel about Pete Rose. This 1970 play at the All-Star Game maybe best defines him. Even though in 1970, the ASG was taken much more seriously by players, it was still an exhibition game.

Was Rose wrong to do this? It would wind up giving catcher Ray Fosse a separated shoulder that not only ruined his career but gave him chronic pain the rest of his life. It's pretty clear he wasn't expecting Rose to come in that hard. It's a shitty thing to do and it negatively affected someone's life…BUT…Rose's job was to win and that's all he saw. 

You don't get to reach the heights of Rose's greatness with his natural abilities without having that drive. It seems like it was almost primal with Rose. That same aggressiveness leads to recklessness which was also his downfall. You probably can't get both with a human being. 

I'd say Rest In Peace but I don't think Rose ever wanted rest or peace.

Hit and Win, Pete. I think that's what you wanted more than anything.