Pete Rose is a name you should recognise even if you never followed sports. You might not remember why you recognise it, but you should at least feel it is familiar. Why? He was definitely full of passion on the baseball field. As a Cincinnati Reds man it is no surprise that his passion managed to take him all the way to the hall of fame located in Cooperstown. His record speaks for itself in terms of being a leader. He had top hits at the bat and many games played in which he helped bring his team to the win. Pete Rose was in the World Series and managed to pull out three wins. He also has three batting titles, which is why this man’s name is in the history books today.
Unfortunately, he managed to make a mess of his career in the end. Pete Rose was banned from sports. His hall of fame title which should have been easy to maintain was taken. So, what happened to such a great player that he would not get the recognition deserved of great plays?
He managed to mess it up with gambling. It is seen time and again with sports players. They enjoy the game, but they also like to bet on the game. Pete Rose bet on sports. He bet on baseball games to be specific. When it was found out that he bet while playing and while managing the Reds, it was exposed and he was voted out of the hall of fame. Such a wonderful career, and it ended up in a mess due to gambling.
Rose played as a switch and threw right. Born in 1941 in Ohio it is no surprise he ended up on the Reds team. He had a debut in ‘63 and appeared for the last time in baseball in 1986. His batting average was .303, hits 4,256, home runs 160 and runs batted in 1,314. Those are some great statistics.
Pete Rose was found out to have gambled in 1989. This was five years after he took over managing the Reds. It was also three years after his retiree date of being a player at all. It was said that he bet on his own team. The thing is Rose kept denying this over and over all through the 90s. Since he was seen as a hero of sorts it makes sense that he wouldn’t want to admit to such a thing as gambling.
Finally in 2004 it seems he had the will to stand up to the media and admit just what he did. He said he never bet against the Reds. He did bet on baseball and on the Reds. Some would very much like Rose to be admitted to the hall of fame, while others do not believe he should be. Is it really wrong that he bet on his own team? If he didn’t throw the game and bet to win wouldn’t that make it slightly better? Of course it is not for us to decide, but it does land Pete Rose in the most famous gambler category.