The tragic and unforgettable life of Pete Rose

When Pete Rose, who died Monday at age 83, passed Ty Cobb to become Major League Baseball’s all-time leader on Sept. 11, 1985, the Cincinnati Reds player/manager received a call from President Ronald Reagan.

“Your reputation and legacy are safe,” said the country’s 40^Th The CEO told him. “It will take a long time for someone to stand where you are now.”

The grabber was half right.

With 2,267 career hits, Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers leads all active players – but is still 162 spots and 1,989 hits behind Rose, aka “Charlie Hustle.”

Born on opening day of the 1941 baseball season, Pete announced from a young age that he would play the game for a living. He was small but extremely competitive and learned to switch shots at the age of eight. Rose was a good player but was banned from playing ball his senior year after leaving Western Hills High School in Ohio.

Determined and aided by the fact that his uncle Buddy Bloebaum was a scout for the Reds, a teenage Rose signed with a semi-pro team. Three years later he played for the Reds in the major leagues.

The burly rookie began his first season in the MLB 0-12 at the plate, but bounced back to earn rookie of the year honors. Many of his teammates disliked him because of his aggressive and combative temperament. It was said that he made friends with black players because they understood what it felt like to be on the outside looking in.

In addition to leading the league in all-time hits, Rose also had nearly unprecedented statistics: the second-most doubles in history, the sixth-most runs scored, three world championships, three National League batting titles and a 17-time All-Star.

“Three things will happen every summer,” Rose said. “The grass will be green, the weather will be hot and Pete Rose will get 200 hits and bat .300.”

But as much as Rose may have excelled on the field, he struggled mightily. He called baseball his religion. He was married and divorced twice. A paternity suit was filed against him. According to rumors, he also fathered other children.

The same brash attitude that led to success as a hitter and defensive player annoyed others both in and out of the game. But one victory can cover a multitude of sins, or so it seemed. Whenever a bad story broke about Rose, it seemed as if some new success or milestone in baseball overshadowed it.

But Pete Rose’s excessive appetite off the field finally caught up with him in August 1989, when he was banned from baseball for gambling. Long-standing MLB rules impose a lifetime ban on players who bet on games in which they are involved.

Rose vehemently and repeatedly denied the allegations for years – until she finally admitted they were true. He even spent five months in prison for tax evasion.

“I screwed up,” he said, but insisted he had never bet against his own club, noting that he “would rather die than lose a baseball game.”

Pete Rose said the baseball ban cost him over $100 million. “I am a perfect example of what not to do,” he said. “Don’t break the rules, you will face the consequences.”

The consequences for Rose went beyond the financial. In his remaining years he signed autographs in Las Vegas, all for a fee. He charged $99 for an autographed baseball or $200 for a bat – and for another $35 he wrote that he was sorry for betting on the game. There were days when he sold more than $10,000 worth of signed merchandise.

He appealed for reinstatement and even went to Cooperstown (home of the Baseball Hall of Fame) during the induction ceremonies – but only to sign more autographs.

As sinful, imperfect people living in a fallen world, we all make our mistakes – but few on such a national scale.

Pete Rose’s long life leaves behind many lessons, but most of all the hollowness of athletic achievement divorced from a relationship with Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of our obligations to our family. It also shows how important it is to follow the rules – and to quickly admit when you don’t.

“My actions, which I thought were harmless, call into question the integrity of the game,” wrote Pete Rose. “And there’s no excuse for that, but there’s also no reason to punish me forever.”

The best news for Christians is that if we mess up and ask for God’s forgiveness, He will give it to us. For the past few years, all the talk about Pete Rose has been whether he would ever be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Some suggest that he should now be inducted posthumously.

It was the author of Hebrews who wrote about another “hall”—the “Hall of Faith”—a passage that can inspire Christian readers to follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before them.

This is the one “hall” that counts the most.

Image from Getty.