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Pete Rose

[rohz]

For the recorder player, see Pete Rose (musician).

Peter Edward "Pete" Rose, Sr. (born April 14, 1941, in Cincinnati, Ohio), nicknamed Charlie Hustle, is a former player and manager in Major League Baseball. Rose played from to , best known for his many years with the Cincinnati Reds. Rose, a switch hitter, is the all-time Major League leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562), at bats (14,053), and outs (10,328). He won three World Series rings, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Gloves, the Rookie of the Year Award, and made 17 All-Star appearances at an unequaled five different positions (2B, LF, RF, 3B, and 1B).

Rose's nickname, "Charlie Hustle", was given to him for his unique playing style. Even when being walked, Rose would sprint to first base, instead of the traditional trot to the base. Rose was known for sliding headfirst into a base, his signature move. This method is now used almost exclusively by stealing base runners today, and has been ever since the late 70's.

In August 1989, three years after he retired as an active player, Rose agreed to permanent ineligibility from baseball amidst accusations that he gambled on baseball games while playing for and managing the Reds; some accusations claimed that he bet on, and even against, the Reds. After years of public denial, in 2004, he admitted to betting on, but not against, the Reds (there has never been any evidence that he ever bet against the Reds). After Rose's ban was instated, the Baseball Hall of Fame formally voted to ban those on the "permanently ineligible" list from induction. Previously, those who were banned (most notably, Shoeless Joe Jackson) had been excluded by informal agreement among voters. The issue of Rose's possible re-instatement and election to the Hall of Fame remains a contentious one throughout baseball.

Background

Rose grew up in the working-class area of Western Hills in Cincinnati as one of four children to Harry and LaVerne Rose, and was encouraged as a young boy to participate in sports. His father, who played semi-professional football, was the biggest influence on Rose and his sports career. He played both baseball and football at Western Hills High School. Rose paid so little attention to his studies in tenth grade that his teacher decreed he would have to attend summer school or be held back. His father kept Rose out of summer school: it was better for his son to repeat a year of school, Harry Rose said, than miss a season playing ball. Barred from his high school team because of his poor performance in class, he got onto a Dayton amateur club instead and batted .500 against grown men. This would have been the pinnacle of Rose's baseball career if not for the help of his uncle Buddy Bloebaum. Bloebaum was a bird dog scout for the Reds and he pleaded the case for his nephew. The Reds, who had recently traded away a number of prospects who turned out to be very good, decided to take Bloebaum up on his offer. By the time Rose had graduated in 1960, he signed a $7,000 contract, with $500 more if he made it all the way to the Major Leagues and managed to stay there for a full year.

Military service

Rose entered the Ohio Army National Guard after the 1963 baseball season. He was assigned to Fort Knox for six months of active duty, which was followed by three years of regular attendance with a Reserve Unit at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. At Fort Knox, he was a platoon guide and graduated from basic training January 18, 1964, one week before his marriage to Karolyn. Rose then remained at Fort Knox to assist the sergeant in training the next platoon and to help another sergeant train the Fort's baseball team. Rose received some special treatment during basic training, including not receiving a shaved head and palling around with the colonel. Later in his Fort Thomas service, Rose served as company cook.

Family

Pete Rose married Karolyn Englehardt in 1964 and the couple had two children, daughter Fawn (born in 1965) and son Pete Rose Jr. (born in 1969). The couple divorced in 1980. Rose married his second wife, Carol J. Woliung, in 1984. They have two children, son Tyler (born in 1985) and daughter Kara (born in 1989).

Two of Rose's children have lived public lives. Kara has worked as a television actress, appearing as a regular in the first season of the soap opera Passions and playing a recurring role on Melrose Place. She uses the stage name "Chea Courtney.

His oldest son, Pete Rose Jr., spent 16 years as a minor league baseball player, advancing to the majors once for an 11-game stint with the Cincinnati Reds in 1997. In his first Major League at-bat, Pete Jr. paid tribute to his father by imitating Pete Sr.'s famous batting stance. He currently resides in Florida.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Rose was signed by the Reds as an amateur free agent on July 8, 1960, and was assigned to the Geneva Redlegs of the New York-Penn League. In , Rose was promoted to the Class D Tampa Tarpons of the Florida State League, where he batted .331 and set a league record for triples, but also led the league in errors.

Rose's next move was Macon, Georgia, where he hit .330, leading the league in triples and runs scored. During a spring training game against the Chicago White Sox in , the Reds' regular second baseman, Don Blasingame, pulled a groin muscle; Rose got his chance and made the most of it. During another spring training game against the New York Yankees, Whitey Ford gave him the derisive nickname "Charlie Hustle" after Rose sprinted to first base after drawing a walk. Despite (or perhaps because of) the manner in which Ford intended it, Rose adopted that nickname as a badge of honor. In Ken Burns' documentary Baseball, Mickey Mantle claimed that Ford gave Rose the nickname after Rose, playing in left field, made an effort to climb the fence to try to catch a Mantle home run that everyone could see was headed over everything.

Major Leagues

Early years

Rose made his Major League debut on April 8, 1963 (Opening Day) against the Pittsburgh Pirates and drew a walk. On April 13, Rose – who was 0-for-11 at the time – got his first Major League hit, a triple off Pittsburgh's Bob Friend. He hit .273 for the year and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, collecting 17 of 20 votes.

On April 23, 1964, in the top of the ninth inning of a scoreless game in Colt Stadium, Rose reached first base on an error and scored on another error to make Houston Colt .45s rookie Ken Johnson the first pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter. However, he slumped late in the season, was benched, and finished with just a .269 average.

Rose came back in to lead the league in hits (209) and at-bats (670), and hit .312, the first of his 10 seasons with 200-plus hits and the first of 9 consecutive .300 seasons. He hit a career-high 16 home runs in , then switched positions from second base to right field the following year. In , Rose started the season with a 22-game hit streak, missed three weeks (including the All-Star Game) with a broken thumb, then had a 19-game hit streak late in the season. He had to finish the season 6-for-9 to beat out Matty Alou and win the first of two close NL batting-title races with a .335 average.

Rose had his best offensive season in , leading the league in batting for the second straight season (.348) and also pacing the league in runs with 120. As the Reds' leadoff man he was the team's catalyst, rapping 218 hits and walking 88 times. He hit 33 doubles, 11 triples, and a career-best 16 homers. He drove in 82 runs, slugged .512 (by far the highest mark of his long career), and had a .432 OBP (also a career best). But the Reds finished four games out of first, and Rose lost the MVP award to Willie McCovey. Rose and Roberto Clemente were tied for the batting title going into the final game; Rose bunted for a base hit in his last at-bat of the season to beat out Clemente.

1970 All-Star game

On July 14, 1970, in brand-new Riverfront Stadium (opened just two weeks earlier), Rose was involved in one of the most famous plays in All-Star Game history. Leading off against California's Clyde Wright in the 12th inning, Rose hit a single and advanced to second on another single by the Dodgers' Billy Grabarkewitz. The Cubs’ Jim Hickman then singled sharply to center. Amos Otis' throw went past Indians catcher Ray Fosse, but Rose still barreled over Fosse to score the winning run. It has been written that Fosse suffered a separated shoulder in the collision, but it went undiagnosed initially. Fosse continued to hit for average (he finished the season at .307), but with diminished power — he had 16 homers before the break but only two after. He played through the 1979 season, but never approached his first-year numbers. The collision also caused Rose to miss three games with a bruised knee. Fosse did not miss any games immediately after the incident. As can be seen in a replay of the event, Rose initially intended to slide headfirst, but when Fosse blocked the plate prior to the throw reaching home, Rose came back up and knocked Fosse out of the way, clearing his path to home as the throw went by.

1973 NLCS

In , Rose won his third and final batting title with a .338 average, collected a career-high 230 hits and was named the NL MVP. The Reds ended up losing the National League Championship Series to the Mets despite Rose’s eighth-inning home run to tie Game One and his 12th-inning home run to win Game Four. During Game Three of the series, Rose got into a fight with the popular Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson while trying to break up a double play; the fight resulted in a bench-clearing brawl. The game was nearly called off when, after the Reds took the field, fans threw objects from the stands at Rose, causing the Reds team to leave the field until order was restored.

44-game hitting streak

On May 5, 1978, Rose became the 13th player in Major League history to collect his 3,000th career hit, with a single off Expos pitcher Steve Rogers. On June 14 in Cincinnati, Rose singled in the first inning off Cubs pitcher Dave Roberts; Rose would proceed to get a hit in every game he played until August 1, making a run at Joe DiMaggio’s record 56-game hitting streak, which had stood virtually unchallenged for 37 years. The streak started quietly, but by the time it had reached 30 games, the media took notice and a pool of reporters accompanied Rose and the Reds to every game. On July 19 against the Phillies, Rose was hitless going into the ninth with his team trailing. He ended up walking and the streak appeared over. But the Reds managed to bat through their entire lineup, giving Rose another chance. Facing Ron Reed, Rose laid down a perfect bunt single to extend the streak to 32 games.

He would eventually tie Willie Keeler's single season National League record at 44 games; but on August 1, the streak came to an end as Gene Garber of the Braves struck out Rose in the ninth inning. The competitive Rose was sour after the game, blasting Garber and the Braves for treating the situation "like it was the ninth inning of the 7th game of the World Series" and adding that "Phil Niekro would have given me a fastball to hit.

Game	Date	Pitcher	Team	Singles	Doubles
1	06-14-1978	Dave Roberts	Chicago Cubs	2	0
2	06-16-1978	John Denny	St. Louis Cardinals	2	1
3	06-17-1978	Pete Vukovich	St. Louis Cardinals	2	0
4	06-18-1978	Silvio Martinez	St. Louis Cardinals	1	0
5	06-20-1978	John Montefusco	San Francsico Giants	2	1
6	06-21-1978	Ed Halicki	San Francisco Giants	1	0
7	06-22-1978	Bob Knepper	San Francisco Giants	1	0
8	06-23-1978	Burt Hooton	Los Angeles Dodgers	1	0
9	06-24-1978	Bob Welch	Los Angeles Dodgers	1	0
10	06-25-1978	Tommy John	Los Angeles Dodgers	2	0
11	06-26-1978	Mark Lemongello	Houston Astros	1	0
12	06-27-1978	Joe Niekro	Houston Astros	1	0
13	06-28-1978	Tom Dixon	Houston Astros	1	0
14	06-29-1978	Floyd Bannister	Houston Astros	1	1
15	06-30-1978	Lance Rautzhan	Los Angeles Dodgers	1	0
16	06-30-1978	Bob Welch	Los Angeles Dodgers	3	0
17	07-01-1978	Rick Rhoden	Los Angeles Dodgers	1	1
18	07-02-1978	Doug Rau	Los Angeles Dodgers	1	1
19	07-03-1978	Floyd Bannister	Houston Astros	3	1
20	07-04-1978	J.R. Richard	Houston Astros	1	0
21	07-05-1978	Joe Niekro	Houston Astros	1	0
22	07-07-1978	Vida Blue	San Francisco Giants	3	0
23	07-07-1978	Jim Barr	San Francisco Giants	1	0
24	07-08-1978	John Montefusco	San Francisco Giants	1	0
25	07-09-1978	Ed Halicki	San Francisco Giants	3	0
26	07-13-1978	Jerry Koosman	New York Mets	2	1
27	07-14-1978	Pat Zachry	New York Mets	2	0
28	07-15-1978	Craig Swan	New York Mets	1	0
29	07-16-1978	Paul Siebert	New York Mets	1	1
30	07-17-1978	Stan Bahnsen	Montreal Expos	1	0
31	07-18-1978	Hal Dues	Montreal Expos	2	1
32	07-19-1978	Ron Reed	Philadelphia Phillies	1	0
33	07-20-1978	Jim Kaat	Philadelphia Phillies	1	0
34	07-21-1978	Ross Grimsley	Montreal Expos	1	0
35	07-22-1978	Dan Schatzeder	Montreal Expos	1	0
36	07-22-1978	Steve Rogers	Montreal Expos	2	1
37	07-24-1978	Pat Zachry	New York Mets	1	0
38	07-25-1978	Craig Swan	New York Mets	3	1
39	07-26-1978	Nino Espinosa	New York Mets	1	1
40	07-28-1978	Randy Lerch	Philadelphia Phillies	1	1
41	07-28-1978	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	1	0
42	07-29-1978	Jim Lonborg	Philadelphia Phillies	3	0
43	07-30-1978	Larry Christenson	Philadelphia Phillies	2	0
44	07-31-1978	Phil Niekro	Atlanta Braves	1	0

The Big Red Machine

On a team with many great players that is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest teams ever, Rose was viewed as one of the club's leaders (along with future Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Pérez). The influence that Rose's hustling team attitude had on his teammates was very likely a factor in the success of what was called "The Big Red Machine." His 1975 performance was considered outstanding enough that he earned the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year and Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award. The following year, Rose was a major force in helping the Reds repeat as World Series champions. The 1976 Reds swept the Phillies 3-0 in the National League Championship Series and then swept the Yankees 4-0 in the World Series. The 1976 Cincinnati Reds remain the only team since the expansion of the playoffs in 1969 to go undefeated in the postseason.

Rose goes to the Phillies

In , Rose became a free agent and signed a four-year, $3.2-million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, temporarily making him the highest-paid athlete in team sports. The Phillies were in the middle of the greatest era in the history of the franchise when Rose came on board. They had won the National League East three years running (1976-1978) two of which were won with 101 win seasons. Although they missed the postseason in his first year with the team, they earned three division titles (one in the first half of the strike shortened 1981 season), two World Series appearances and one World Series title (1980) in the following four years (Ironically, Pete had the worst season of his career in 1983 when the Phillies played in their second World Series in four years), hitting only .245 with 121 hits. Rose found himself benched during the latter part of the '83 season, appearing periodically to play and pinch hit. Rose did blossom as a pinch-hitter, with 8 hits in 21 at bats - .381 average.

Pete bounced back in a big way during the Postseason, batting .375 (6-for-16) during the N.L. Playoffs against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and .312 in the World Series for the Phillies (5-for-16). Rose collected only 1 hit in his first 8 at-bats in the first two games in Baltimore against the 1983 A.L. Champions. Pete found himself benched for game three back in Philadelphia, and would ground out in a pinch-hitting appearance. Worse yet, Rose showed some unsportsmanlike attitude toward his own manager, Paul Owens, but complaining about his benching. Yet, the next day, he started hitting the baseball again in Charlie Hustle style, collecting 4 hits in his last 7 at-bats. Still, the Phillies lost decisively to the Orioles in the '83 World Series, 4 games to 1.

Expos, Reds, Retirement

After the conclusion of the 1983 World Series, Rose was released by the Phillies. Phils management wanted to retain Rose, but he refused to accept a more limited playing role. Pete was granted an Unconditional Release from the Phillies in late-October 1983. Months later, he signed a one-year contract with the Montreal Expos in . On April 13, batting right-handed, Rose doubled off of the Phillies’ Jerry Koosman for his 4,000th career hit, joining Ty Cobb to become only the second player to enter the 4000 hit club. The hit came 21 years to the day after Rose's first career hit. Rose was traded to the Reds for infielder Tom Lawless on August 15 and was immediately named player-manager, replacing Reds' manager Vern Rapp. Major League Baseball has not had another player-manager since Rose.

On September 11, 1985, Rose broke Ty Cobb’s all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit, a single to left-center field off San Diego Padres pitcher Eric Show. According to its Web site, MLB.com, Major League Baseball continues to recognize Cobb's final hit total as 4,191, though independent research has revealed that two of Cobb's hits were counted twice. Because of this, it has been suggested that Rose actually broke Cobb's record against the Cubs' Reggie Patterson with a single in the first inning of a Reds' 5-5 called game against Chicago on September 8. Because Rose broke Cobb's record, ABC's Wide World of Sports named Rose as its Athlete of the Year that year. Rose accumulated a total of 4,256 hits before his final career at-bat, a strikeout against San Diego’s Goose Gossage on August 17, 1986. On November 11, Rose was dropped from the Reds’ 40-man roster to make room for pitcher Pat Pacillo, and he unofficially retired as a player. "Charlie Hustle" finished with an incredible number of Major League and National League records that will last for many years. Rose, always proud of his ability to hit .300 or better in 15 of his 24 playing seasons, has a lifetime .303 Batting Average.

Post-playing career

Manager

Rose managed the Reds from August 15, 1984, to August 24, 1989, with a 426-388 record. During his four full seasons at the helm (1985-1988), the Reds posted four second-place finishes in the NL West division. His 426 managerial wins rank fifth in Reds history.

On April 30, 1988 during a home game against the New York Mets, Rose shoved umpire Dave Pallone while arguing a disputed call at first base in the 9th inning. Rose claimed that Pallone had scratched him in the face during the argument, which provoked the push. Regardless, National League president A. Bartlett Giamatti suspended Rose for 30 days, which was the longest suspension ever levied for an on-field incident involving a manager. The shove caused a near-riot at Riverfront Stadium, and fans showered the field with debris.

Ironically, the length of the suspension allowed Rose to undergo and fully recuperate from badly needed knee surgery.

Rose was the manager when Tom Browning posted his perfect game at Riverfront Stadium on September 16, 1988, the first one pitched in the National League since Sandy Koufax pitched one in . Coincidentally, it was against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Koufax's old team.

Permanent Ineligibility

Amid reports that he had bet on baseball, Rose was questioned in February by outgoing commissioner Peter Ueberroth and his replacement, Bart Giamatti. Rose denied the allegations and Ueberroth dropped the investigation. However, after Giamatti became Commissioner, three days later, lawyer John Dowd was retained to investigate these charges against Rose. A Sports Illustrated cover story published on March 21, 1989 gave the public their first detailed report of the allegations that Rose had placed bets on baseball games.

Dowd interviewed many of Rose's associates, including alleged bookies and bet runners. He delivered a summary of his findings to the Commissioner in May, a document which became known as the Dowd Report. In it, Dowd documented Rose's alleged gambling activities in 1985 and 1986 and compiled a day-by-day account of Rose's alleged betting on baseball games in 1987. The Dowd Report documented his alleged bets on 52 Reds games in , where Rose wagered a minimum of $10,000 a day. Others involved in the allegations claim that number was actually $2,000 a day.

According to the Dowd Report itself, "no evidence was discovered that Rose bet against the Reds. This is in contrast to the case of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and his teammates in the Black Sox Scandal, who were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series.

Rose continued to deny all of the accusations against him and refused to appear at a hearing with Giamatti on the matter. He filed a lawsuit alleging that the Commissioner had prejudged the case and could not provide a fair hearing. A Cincinnati judge issued a temporary restraining order to delay the hearing, but Giamatti fought to have the case moved to Federal Court. The Commissioner prevailed in that effort, after which he and Rose entered settlement negotiations.

On August 24, 1989, Rose voluntarily accepted a permanent place on baseball’s ineligible list. Rose accepted that there was a factual reason for the ban; in return, Major League Baseball agreed to make no formal finding with regard to the gambling allegations. According to baseball's rules, Rose could apply for reinstatement in one year. Rose, with a 412-373 record, was replaced as Reds manager by Tommy Helms. Rose began therapy with a psychiatrist for treatment of a gambling addiction.

Rose's ban has prevented the Reds from formally retiring his #14 jersey. However, aside from his son Pete Jr.'s brief stint with the team in , the Reds have not issued that number since Rose's ban. Even though the number has not been retired, it is highly unlikely that any Red will ever wear that number again. His uniform number 14 was retired by the Cincinnati Cyclones of the East Coast Hockey League.The Phillies retired the number 14, in honor of Jim Bunning, therefore, no Phillie will ever wear that number again.

Tax evasion

On April 22, 1990, Rose pleaded guilty to two charges of filing false income tax returns not showing income he received from selling autographs, memorabilia, and from horse racing winnings. On July 20, Rose was sentenced to five months in the medium security Prison Camp at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois and fined $50,000. He was released on January 7, 1991 after having paid $366,041 in back taxes and interest.

Hall of Fame Eligibility

On February 4, 1991, the Hall of Fame voted to formally exclude individuals on the permanently ineligible list from being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Rose is the only living member of the ineligible list. The Hall changed this later in the decade, and players on the ineligible list can be considered by the Veterans Committee in the first year after they would have lost their place on the Baseball Writers Association of America's ballot. Under the Hall's rules, players may appear on the ballot for only fifteen years, beginning five years after they retire. Had he not been banned from baseball, Rose's name could have been on the writers' ballot beginning in 1992 and ending in 2006. He would have been eligible for consideration by the Veterans Committee in 2007, but did not appear on the ballot.

Reinstatement Efforts

In September , Rose applied for reinstatement. Bud Selig, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, never acted on that application. In public comments, Selig said he saw no reason to reconsider Rose's punishment. In March 2003, Selig acknowledged that he was considering Rose's application, leading to speculation that Rose's return might be imminent. Ultimately, however, Selig took no action. Even supporters of Rose's reinstatement concede that it is not likely that reinstatement will occur under Selig's tenure as commissioner. He had previously applied for reinstatement in , but then-commissioner Fay Vincent never acted on it.

In a December 2002 interview, investigator Dowd stated that he believed that Rose may have bet against the Reds while managing them. However, his official report states "no evidence was discovered that Rose bet against the Cincinnati Reds."

A web site claiming to be dedicated to the integrity of the game , has sought to draw a correlation between the lifetime ban of Pete Rose and the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs by other players and has taken the purely rhetorical stand that if Rose is not reinstated, despite his admission of gambling on baseball, then players accused of using steroids should also be declared permanently ineligible.

The Jim Gray interview

Before Game 2 of the 1999 World Series, Rose received the loudest ovation during the introduction of the members of the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. After the ceremony on live television, NBC's Jim Gray repeatedly asked Rose if he was ready to admit to betting on baseball and apologize:

Jim Gray: Pete, now let me ask you. It seems as though there is an opening, the American public is very forgiving. Are you willing to show contrition, admit that you bet on baseball and make some sort of apology to that effect?
Pete Rose: Not at all, Jim. I'm not going to admit to something that didn't happen. I know you're getting tired of hearing me say that. But I appreciate the ovation. I appreciate the American fans voting me on the All-Century Team. I'm just a small part of a big deal tonight.
JG: With the overwhelming evidence in that report, why not make that step...
PR: No. This is too much of a festive night to worry about that because I don't know what evidence you're talking about. I mean, show it to me...
JG: Pete, those who will hear this tonight will say you have been your own worst enemy and continue to be. How do you respond to that?
PR: In what way are you talking about?
JG: By not acknowledging what seems to be overwhelming evidence.
PR: Yeah, I'm surprised you're bombarding me like this. I mean I'm doing an interview with you on a great night, a great occasion, a great ovation. Everybody seems to be in a good mood. And you're bringing up something that happened 10 years ago ... This is a prosecutor's brief, not an interview, and I'm very surprised at you.
JG: Some would be surprised that you didn't take the opportunity.

Many people were outraged over Gray's aggressive questioning, feeling that it detracted from the ceremony; in protest, New York Yankees outfielder Chad Curtis refused to speak with Gray after his game-winning home run in Game 3. Others felt that given the dichotomy of Rose's banishment from baseball but his inclusion on the All-Century Team, the questions were appropriate. Earlier that season, Rose had been ranked at number 25 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

Nevertheless, despite MLB's official ban on Rose, it was willing — perhaps cynically — to ask him to participate in commercial promotions like the All-Century Team that benefited MLB while refusing to allow him to participate in local events in Cincinnati such as the 25th anniversary reunion of the Big Red Machine, the closing of Cinergy Field, and the opening of the Great American Ballpark.

Coming clean

In his autobiography My Prison Without Bars, published by Rodale Press on January 8, 2004, Rose finally admitted publicly to betting on baseball games and other sports while playing for and managing the Reds. He also admitted to betting on Reds games, but said that he never bet against the Reds. He repeated his admissions in an interview on the ABC news program Primetime Thursday. He also said in the book that he hoped his admissions would help end his ban from baseball so that he could reapply for reinstatement. In March 2007 during an interview on The Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio, Rose said, "I bet on my team every night. I didn't bet on my team four nights a week. I bet on my team to win every night because I loved my team, I believed in my team," he said. "I did everything in my power every night to win that game. The criticism of Rose did not diminish after this admission—even some Rose supporters were outraged that Rose would suddenly reverse fifteen years of denials as part of a book publicity tour. In addition, the timing was called into question—by making his admission just two days after the Baseball Hall of Fame announced its class of 2004 inductees, Rose appeared to be linking himself publicly to the Hall. Further adding to the debate was the 2004 ESPN made-for-TV movie Hustle, starring Tom Sizemore as Rose, which documents Rose's gambling problem and his subsequent ban from baseball.

Pete Rose and the WWE

Between the years 1998 and 2000, Rose appeared at World Wrestling Entertainment's annual WrestleMania pay-per-view event. At the 1998 event he served as "guest ring announcer" during a match between Kane and the Undertaker, after which he took a Tombstone Piledriver from Kane. For the next year's WrestleMania XV, Rose was portrayed as seeking revenge. To do so he dressed as the San Diego Chicken and "attacked" Kane before his scheduled match, only to take another Tombstone.

In addition to these three appearances, he appeared in a Halloween-themed commercial for WWE's No Mercy event in 2002 and was chokeslammed by Kane. In 2004, Rose was inducted into the "Celebrity Wing" of the WWE Hall of Fame. He was the first celebrity to go into the Hall, and was inducted at a ceremony prior to WrestleMania XX.

Records and achievements

Major League records:

Most career hits - 4,256
Most career outs - 10,328
Most career games played - 3,562
Most career at bats - 14,053
Most career singles - 3,215
Most career runs by a switch hitter - 2,165
Most career doubles by a switch hitter - 746
Most career walks by a switch hitter - 1,566
Most career total bases by a switch hitter - 5,752
Most seasons of 200 or more hits - 10
Most consecutive seasons of 100 or more hits - 23
Most consecutive seasons with 600 or more at bats - 13 (1968-1980)
Most seasons with 600 at bats - 17
Most seasons with 150 or more games played - 17
Most seasons with 100 or more games played - 23
Record for playing in the most winning games - 1,972
Only player in major league history to play more than 500 games at five different positions - 1B (939), LF (671), 3B (634), 2B (628), RF (595)

National League records:

Most years played - 24
Most consecutive years played - 24
Most career runs - 2,165
Most career doubles - 746
Most career games with 5 or more hits - 10
Modern (post-1900) record for longest consecutive game hitting streak - 44
Modern record for most consecutive hitting streaks of 20 or more games - 7

NL MVP Award ()
NL Rookie of the Year Award ()
17 All-Star selections
Three World Series rings (1975, 1976, 1980)
World Series MVP Award (1975)
Two Gold Glove Awards (and , both as an outfielder)
Roberto Clemente Award ()
The Sporting News Player of the Year ()
The Sporting News Sportsman of the Year ()
The Sporting News Player of the Decade (1970s)

Other Achievements:

WWE Hall of Fame inductee (2004)

Cultural references

Rose is referred to in the Billy Joel song "Zanzibar", in the lyrics "Rose, he knows he's such a credit to the game/But the Yankees grab the headlines every time." In the live version on his 12 Gardens concert album, Joel changed the lyrics to "Rose, he knows he'll never make the Hall of Fame," a reference to his fall from grace since the song's original 1978 recording.

Rose was mentioned in the 1981 Jimmy Buffett song "Growing Older But Not Up," in the lyrics, "I'm no Pete Rose/I can't pretend/While my mind is quite flexible/These brittle bones won't bend."

The last episode of Arrested Development, "Development Arrested", mentions Rose: "And although [George Michael had] only gotten to second base, he’d gone in head-first, like Pete Rose.

In the Family Guy episode Sibling Rivalry, when Stewie goes to play in the park, he goes to play on the jungle gym only to be confronted by a little boy. He remarks, “Hey, where’d you get the Pete Rose hair cut?” He then knees the boy in the crotch.

In an episode of Married... With Children, Al tries to tell Peggy about Jefferson's checkered past. Not wanting to say it directly, he hints "What do Jefferson, Pete Rose and your cousin all have in common?", to which Peggy responds "They've all been to prison!"

In an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air entitled "Courting Disaster", Will Smith is joining the school basketball team when his uncle, Philip, says "Nothing like an organized sport to straighten a kid out," when the butler, Geoffrey, says "Yes, it did wonders for Pete Rose."

On an episode of the USA Network television show Psych entitled "Who Ya Gonna Call?", Shawn Spencer gets access to the crime scene by claiming that the "spirit of Pete Rose" contacted him.

In the sport of wakeboarding, there is a trick named "Pete Rose". The rider who invented the trick said he would "slide like Pete Rose" upon crashing while trying to learn the trick.

On an episode of The King of Queens entitled "Sold-y Locks," Carrie catches Doug talking to Robert Goulet about her new hair cut. When Carrie asks Robert what Doug said about her hair, Robert responds, "He said you look like Pete Rose." Doug defends himself by saying "He was the all time hits leader!"