Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader who endured a lifetime ban for betting on the sport, has died at age 83, his agent Jeff Lenkov confirmed to KTLA 5 News.
According to TMZ, Rose died at his home in Las Vegas on Monday.
“The family is asking for privacy at this time,” Ryan Fiterman of Fiterman Sports told the entertainment news outlet.
The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
Rose, who went by the nickname “Charlie Hustle,” amassed 4,256 hits over 24 MLB seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies. He was named to 17 All-Star teams, earned the 1973 National League MVP award and played on three World Series championship teams.
Rose also won two Gold Gloves and was part of the Reds’ famed “Big Red Machine,” which dominated the National League in the 1970s.
Despite this success on the field, Rose’s career was marred by controversy due to his gambling on baseball games, including those involving the Reds team he was managing at the time. While Rose admitted to betting on baseball, he maintained that he never bet against his own team.
In 1989, after an investigation, Rose was permanently banned from baseball, making him ineligible for the Hall of Fame – a punishment he fought until the end.
“There’s nothing I can change about the history of Pete Rose,” Rose told KTLA in what proved to be his final television interview in early September. “I keep convincing myself or telling myself, ‘Hang in there, Pete, you’ll get a second chance.’”
Despite being ineligible for the Hall of Fame, Rose’s achievements on the field remain unmatched, and the debate over whether he should be inducted continues to divide baseball fans and experts.