A great ballplayer - and there is no other adjective to use to describe Rose the player - he played in more games, had more plate appearances, more at bats, and the Crown Jewel of his achievements, more hits, 4,256, than any other player in history. He was a 17 time All-Star, an MVP, a World Series MVP, a three time batting champion, a two time Gold Glove winner, and the owner of the NL record hitting streak of 44 games. If you were around during that 1978 season, following Rose during that streak was positively riveting. He played on six pennant winners and three World Series champions. He was the driving force of one on baseball's most colorful and great teams ever, The Big Red Machine Cincinnati Reds of the 1970's.
He was one of the greatest ballplayers ever and a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer, if not a unanimous choice to make the HOF. However, it all came crashing down around him in 1989 when a thorough investigation by MLB showed that not only was Pete an inveterate gambler, he was guilty of violating Baseball's cardinal rule: he gambled on Major League Baseball, be bet on games in which he played and on games of a team that he managed, the Reds. That brought a lifetime ban from baseball that included him being deemed ineligible to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Thus began the polarization.
The argument began that should or should not Rose be allowed to enter the Hall of Fame? First off, let me state that Rose is not a "non-person" as far as the National Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame goes. If you have ever visited this fabulous place in Cooperstown, NY, as I have on many occasions, you will find Pete Rose all over the place. There are numerous statistical exhibits where Rose's accomplishments are duly recognized, including his place at the top of the Hits List. The last time that I was there on the mid-2010's, there was an exhibit on Baseball's Greatest Teams that included The Big Red Machine, and Pete's recognizable mug was front and center in all of the pictures commemorating that team. It is the "Hall" part of that institution, the place where all the plaques are, that Rose cannot be found. My own position on this, and hey, I'm just an ordinary baseball fan, is that Rose should not be allowed as a member of the HOF. Yes, I know that the Hall is populated by its share of womanizers, drunks, druggies, and other assorted bad guys, but betting on baseball? Like I said earlier, that is the one thing that you simply cannot do, and Rose did it.
Over the years, as these arguments raged on, Pete Rose became his own worst enemy. In the early 2000's commissioner Bud Selig offered him a lifeline. He would fully reinstate him, but there were conditions. Admit that he gambled on baseball (it wasn't until a few years after that that that Rose finally admitted this, and that was in a book where he could make money off of the admission), cease gambling, and cease all relationships with casinos. Rose wouldn't, or couldn't, do it.
There were other transgressions. He did time in a federal penitentiary for tax evasion. A lawsuit revealed that he once had a sexual relationship with in underage girl. He became estranged from his kids. And there were the numerous stories about Pete willing to do anything for money. I mentioned the book that he wrote. (A former teammate said that Pete was the only guy who ever wrote a book who had never actually read one.) Once, the Reds obtained permission from MLB to allow Rose to appear at a Reds game where members of the Big Red Machine teams were being honored. Rose almost didn't show up because he wanted to be paid to be there. And there were always the distasteful appearances in Cooperstown during HOF induction weekend where Rose would set up shop down the street to sell autographs and his schlocky "Hit King" merchandise.
Still, I loved reading stories about Rose the ballplayer. He knew everything about the game. Not only his stats, but the stats of all the other players, too. In a book about Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak in 1941 that I read several years ago, Rose was frequently quoted throughout. As I said when I read it, I may dislike Pete Rose the person, but when it comes to talking about the game and hitting, I will sure as hell listen to him.
Speculation now looms that Rose will finally be admitted to the Hall of Fame posthumously, a final way for MLB to screw him over when he's not alive to realize his greatest ambition. MLB has stated that such bans continue after a person's death (see Jackson, Shoeless Joe). We shall see how all of that unfolds, but it assures us that Pete Rose, both his glorious on-field accomplishments and his personal habits that led to his ignominy, will always be with us, and somehow, I think that will be exactly how Pete Rose would want it to play out.
RIP Pete Rose.
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