Pete Rose posted monster numbers in his Major League Baseball career.
Rose, who played from 1963 to 1986, holds major league records for games played (3,562), at bats (14,053), hits (4,256), and singles (3,215). He had a lifetime batting average of .303. Those are Hall of Fame numbers. But the player known as “Mr. Hustle” has never been inducted into Cooperstown because of a scandal that marred his post-player career.
In 1989, three years after his retirement, Rose was kicked out of baseball amid accusations that he bet on baseball games while playing for and managing the Cincinnati Reds. An MLB lawyer, John M. Dowd, alleged that Rose bet on 52 Reds games in 1987, with a minimum bet, reportedly, of $10,000 a day. No hard evidence ever emerged that he bet against his own team and Rose, for years, denied the allegations. But in 2004, Rose admitted in his autobiography that he bet on baseball while serving as the Reds manager. In 2007, he told ESPN Radio that he bet on the Reds to win every night.
Pete Rose played Major League Baseball for 24 seasons, from 1963-1986, and had more hits, 4,256, than any other player (by a wide margin). He gambled, but only on his own team winning, and paid a decades long price. GET PETE ROSE INTO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME. It’s Time!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2020
During negotiations with Major League Baseball over the matter, Rose agreed to to be placed on baseball’s “permanently ineligible” list. Every few years, though, Rose’s permanent ban from the Hall of Fame comes up for discussion. – READ MORE
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