Pete Rose

American major league baseball player for 24 seasons. In the center of one of the most talked about controversies in baseball history, with an all-time career record of 4,256 hits, He was a shoe-in for the Baseball Hall of Fame until 02/20/1089 when investigations began on his gambling habits. Rose was suspended from baseball on 08/23/1989 for committing baseball's capital crime; from 1985 through 1987 he bet on his own team. Rose was sentenced on 07/19/1990 to five months in prison and then, following his prison time, three months in a half-way house. Rose may never be able to enter baseball's Hall of Fame. He holds three National League batting titles, hit .300 nine consecutive seasons and was named MVP in the 1975 World Series. He holds the National League record as the only player to play 500 or more games at each of five positions. Rose has two sisters and a brother. Living in Cincinnati, OH in comfortable middle-class surroundings, his father, Harry F. Rose, chief cashier of Union Trust Co., got him into sports early playing catch with Pete when he was only two. His dad told the Knot Hole League baseball coach Pete could only play if he could switch hit at nine. Attending Western Hills High School, Rose played football and baseball and although he was short and weighed 150 pounds, he could dunk a basketball. He was considered one of the toughest players in school. After high school Rose signed with the Cincinnati Reds receiving a $12,000 signing bonus. He played in Geneva, NY Class D Pony League for 85 games hitting .277 and committing 36 errors at second base. His spirit and hustle saved him. In the spring of 1963 he was invited to the Reds training camp and became the National League Rookie of the Year with 17 of 20 votes. At age 22 he was uniquely aggressive, totally egocentric and had an instinct for publicity. Ambitious and selfish, he had little respect for his older teammates and was given the nickname Charlie Hustle as he ran to first base even when he got a walk. The winter of 1964-65 he played baseball in Venezuela which prepared him for playing second base in the 1965 All-Star game, the first of 17 appearances. He was moved to third base and then the outfield in 1967. He won the NL batting title for the first time in 1969 and signed a contract for over $100,000, the highest paid in Cincinnati history. In 1978, June 14 through July 31, he tied the NL record for most consecutive games with one or more hits in a season, 44. "Sporting News" named him Player of the Decade in 1979. He joined the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980 through 1983 and became a player-manager for the Reds in 1984 and remained with them through 1989, breaking Ty Cobb's record of 4,191 hits on 9/11/1985. On 3/20/1989 the Baseball Commissioner's Office began investigating Rose. On 5/09/1989 a 225 page report on his gambling activities was turned in and on 8/24/1989 he accepted a lifetime ban from baseball with the ability to apply for reinstatement after one year. He applied for reinstatement on 9/26/1997. On 4/21/1990 Rose pled guilty to two charges of filing false income tax returns not showing income he received from selling autographs and baseball memorabilia. Rose was sentenced to five months in federal prison, three months in a halfway house, ordered to serve 1,000 hours of community service and fined $50,000 on 7/20/1990. He was released 1/07/1991 after having paid $366,041 in back taxes and interest on $354,968 of unreported income. President Jimmy Carter wrote an open letter in "USA Today" 10/30/1995 saying it was time to forgive Pete Rose. Roger Kahn, who wrote "The Boys of Summer" also wrote Pete's biography, "Ballplayer!: The Headfirst Life of Peter Edward Rose," and stated, "after seeing all the evidence, I don't know if Pete Rose bet on baseball, but I know he was railroaded out of the game." Rose now lives in Boca Raton, FL where he owns the Pete Rose Ballpark Cafe and has a weekly radio show. He married Karolyn Englehardt 1/25/1964. They have a daughter, Fawn Renee and son, Pete Rose, Jr., born 1970 who plays minor league baseball. After divorcing in 1980, Pete seldom got in touch with them. Carol is Rose's second wife. They have a son Tyler born early 1985 and daughter Cara born late summer 1989. It has been reported that he took amphetamines throughout his career and when he stopped taking them, he gained a good deal of weight. June 1967 he suffered a hurt shoulder and missed 14 games. A fractured left thumb kept him on the bench for three weeks in 1968. He had knee surgery 7/20/1990 to repair torn cartilage. After serving his prison sentence he saw a psychiatrist for his gambling addiction. The end of Rose's career did not benefit a man whose brain had the power to absorb everything worth knowing about baseball. Unfortunately, Rose was an amateur human being; the faults associated with such a title were his ultimate downfall. He was once described as "self-absorbed, boorish, and heedless." Recently, a movement has begun to elect Rose to the Hall of Fame. Jimmy Carter, as well as many other big names from the history of baseball, have joined together to push for Rose's induction. Until such a time as Rose is inducted and given the proper credit that he deserves for a phenomenal career, he makes an honest living hosting a radio show, running a restaurant, tending investments, and hawking memorabilia. In mid-December 1999, Rose launched a new campaign to be reinstated into baseball, claiming to have evidence refuting charged that he bet on the Cincinnati Reds team that he managed from 1984 to 1989. His mission is twofold: to get elected to baseball's Hall of Fame, from which he is now barred, and to once again manage a big-league club and collect a seven-figure salary. After 15 years of denials, Pete Rose admitted in January 2004 that in 1987 and 1988 he bet on baseball and on his own team while he was manager of the Cincinnati Reds. His autobiography entitled "My Prison Without Bars" was released at the same time. His admission of wrongdoing has reopened debate about his suitability for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Link to Wikipedia biography Link to Astrodienst discussion forum