Pete Rose has died at age 83

Pete Rose, longtime player and manager who is the all time MLB leader in hits, and who was banned for life from baseball for gambling on games his team was playing in, has passed away. He was 83.

Rose broke in with the Cincinnati Reds, his hometown team, in 1963. He won Rookie of the Year with a .273/.334/.371 slash line that included 101 runs scored and, interestingly, 13 stolen bases in 28 attempts.

Rose would spend 24 years playing in the major leagues, with his greatest seasons coming with the Reds. He was a key part of the Big Red Machine, and from 1965 through 1977 received MVP votes every year except one, winning the award in 1973. The Reds won a pair of World Series with Rose, in 1975 and 1976, and advanced to the World Series with him in 1970 and 1972.

Rose signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as a free agent prior to the 1979 season, and was the starting first baseman on their 1980 World Series winning club. He had a brief stint with the Expos in 1984 before being traded back to the Reds, for whom he was a player-manager until he quit playing to be just a manager after the 1986 season.

Rose had a unique career, one in which he was known as "Charlie Hustle" for his high-energy style of play. Rose didn't hit for a lot of power, but put up several 40+ double seasons, drew a lot of walks, and hit for high average. He also played all over hte field in his career — he had 939 games at first base, but also had between 589 and 673 games at left field, right field, third base and second base, while also getting 73 games in center field.

Rose was a legitimate star player into his late-30s, though his reputation took a hit as he continued to play regularly past the point where he was a viable major league regular. From 1980 through 1986 Rose totaled a -1.2 bWAR, though the 800+ hits he accumulated in that time were necessary for him to pass Ty Cobb on the all time hit list.

Rose continued to manage the Reds after his playing days ended, including for much of the 1989 season, by which time he was the subject of an investigation into whether he had bet on Reds games while he was a player and/or a manager. Rose gambled openly and extensively on other sports, but denied betting on Reds games. Nonetheless, an investigation by John Dowd led to the release in June, 1989, of the Dowd Report, which documented multiple instances of Rose betting on the Reds while he was managing them.

In August, 1989, Rose agreed to be placed on baseball's permanently ineligible list. The Hall of Fame subsequently announced that no player on the permanently ineligible list would be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Despite multiple efforts to be reinstated, Rose remained permanently ineligible until his death.