Pete Rose will be remembered among MLB circles as the hardest-playing athlete ever to don a uniform.
The medical examiner in Clark County, Nevada, yesterday announced the cause of death of MLB’s all-time hit king as natural causes. Blood pressure issues, diabetes, and heart disease are what contributed to Rose’s passing this past Monday at his Las Vegas home.
Just this past weekend in Suburban Nashville, Rose was among a cadre of sports legends selling their signatures at a sports collectibles card show. A main contributor in generating sales for the 200 dealer tables offering to buy and sell unique sports items, Rose was a popular draw for baseball fans whose ages ran the gamut of those who saw him play and those who know the legend of his wizardry with a bat.
Rose was at the Music City Sports Show, as he had been regularly since exiting baseball in 1989 for gambling on the game and the team that he was managing at the time, the Cincinnati Reds. Drop $79, and Rose would sign his name and add extra inscriptions on flats, cards, photographs, and balls. Having him put his Sharpie to work on premium items, such as bats, jerseys, and other assorted equipment, the going rate was $99.
There have been few better, more engaged with meeting the baseball public than Rose. More often than not, the Cincinnati native appeared to enjoy meeting his fans equally as they did with him.
From the collectors’ perspective, Rose was arguably the “holy grail” of signatures. His accomplishments over a 24-season MLB career are monstrous. 17 all-star selections, a member of the All-Century team selected in 1999, author of a 44-game hitting streak in 1978, a main member of the “Big Red Machine” of the 1970s that collected consecutive World Series championships, three batting titles, a lifetime .303 batting average, and 4,256 hits—most by any whoever put on a pair of spikes at the MLB level.
This past weekend, Rose reunited at the card show with several former teammates, including Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, George Foster, Ken Griffey, Sr., and Dave Concepcion. Chris Sabo also joined those from the Reds’ family on Sunday. The 1988 National League Rookie of the Year, Sabo spent seven of his nine MLB seasons with the Reds, including two with Rose as his manager. Sabo was shocked, like much of the MLB universe, when learning of Cincinnati’s homegrown superstar’s passing.
“I saw him on Sunday in Nashville. There were several former Reds there. Pete was laughing, we talked, everyone was having a good time,” Sabo told The Epoch Times on Oct. 1.
“Pete believed in me, he gave me a chance back in the 1980s. Because of Pete, I got my break in the big leagues. I always enjoyed being around Pete. He was the most optimistic person. Then, 12 hours later, I got a text that he died. On Sunday, I left the show while Pete was still signing. I said goodbye, and left for the airport. I’m just shocked.”
It was in April 1963 when Rose made his MLB debut with the Reds. Throughout his playing career, be it in the infield or outfield, up until his last game in August 1986 as a manager for Cincinnati, Rose routinely sported the dirtiest uniform on the team. Be it with the Phillies, Expos, or Reds, Rose demonstrated there was no sacrifice too great to make for his team to win. His head-first slides, attempting to steal a base or stretch a single into a double, remain legendary. As a manager, Rose never forgot what it felt like to be a player, and treated his club accordingly.
Kent Tekulve, a 16-season relief pitching stud remembered mostly for his success as a Pittsburgh Pirate, played his last MLB season in 1989. Rose was the Reds’ skipper that season, and at the urging of club general manager Murray Cook, Tekulve agreed to a contract. With reports of Rose betting on baseball, and the intensifying investigation by MLB, Tekulve didn’t have any hesitation in joining the club.
“[1989] was my last year. I knew Pete as a great competitor; he was so good. When I played for him, once the investigation intensified in spring training, Pete kept any distractions away from us players,” Tekulve told The Epoch Times on Tuesday. “Pete stayed in his office during batting practice to keep the media away from us. To him, the game was most important. Everything Pete did for us as players was to give us the best opportunity to succeed. He was always a good example on how to be a baseball player.”
George Grande knew Rose well.
With a long and meritorious sports broadcasting resume that includes being an original ESPN SportsCenter anchor in 1979, handling TV play-by-play for the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals, and 17 seasons in the same role with the Cincinnati Reds, Grande and Rose’s paths crossed often. Both lovers of baseball, it wasn’t uncommon for Grande to receive text messages from Rose during Reds telecasts commenting about a play that just took place or, in recent times, wondering why Aaron Judge just struck out several times during a game. The respect and admiration Grande has for Rose’s accomplishments as a player has never changed; betting issues included.
“It’s a sad day,” Grande told The Epoch Times of Rose’s passing. “I knew him most of my life. He made a lot of mistakes, but on the field, Pete was the best competitor. His mistakes don’t prevent Pete from being idolized for the way he played by the millions of fans who saw him. We still talked on a regular basis. I saw Pete last in July, in Cooperstown. There will never be one like him.”
While Grande believes that Rose should be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, he is also of the belief that his whole story needs to be told; what he did on and off the field.
Former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent, a key player in the Rose gambling investigation (at the time, MLB’s deputy commissioner), also expressed sadness on Tuesday about Rose’s death.
“The Rose case was a tragedy; it was bad for baseball,” he told The Epoch Times. “During the investigation, Rose’s lawyers told me that [Pete] was a national treasure. I said that’s a very big statement. Do you want me to tell this to the commissioner? He’s going to have a very adverse reaction.”
Rose managed the Reds until Aug. 24, 1989, when he voluntarily accepted being permanently placed on baseball’s ineligible list due to betting on baseball, including on the Reds clubs he was managing. In February 1991, the Hall of Fame voted to exclude any individual on the MLB permanently ineligible list from being inducted by way of the BBWAA (Baseball Writers’ Association of America) vote.
