Baseball's All-Time Hits King, Pete Rose Has Passed Away

Live during the MLB broadcast of the NY Mets/Atlanta Braves Wild Card-deciding doubleheader on Monday, Eduardo Perez broke the news that baseball's all-time hits leader Pete Rose has passed away at the age of 83.

Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s hit king who was banned from the sport for life for gambling on his team, has died at 83, according to @PerezEd pic.twitter.com/43J1nlccWV
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 30, 2024

Rose was famous for being Charlie Hustle, and playing the game all-out every time he stepped on the field. He was infamous for being banned for life from baseball in 1989 for gambling on his own team (while acting as manager). He has tried on numerous occasions over the decades to win a reprieve from different commissioners, but it wasn't to be.

The former Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies 24-year veteran is top of the heap in baseball history with 4,256 career hits. But he never got to see himself enshrined in Cooperstown due to the lifetime ban.

Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb’s hit record. RIP to the hit king pic.twitter.com/LDHv868UcX
— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) September 30, 2024

Rose won Rookie of the Year with the Reds in 1963 and stayed active until 1986, winning an MVP along the way with three batting titles as well as three World Series championships (2 with the Reds and one with the Phillies).

He compiled a career average of an incredible .303 with a .375 on-base percentage and a 118 OPS+.

There has never been another player like Pete Rose in my lifetime. This is the way I will remember him, playing the game harder than anyone else ever did.

Few athletes will leave behind more complicated legacies. Today isn’t the day for that.

Today, let’s just say thanks to… pic.twitter.com/pXgnSZXUZg
— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) September 30, 2024

RIP to baseball's all-time hits king.