BREAKING: Legendary baseball player Pete Rose dead at 83

Rose, who was never inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY due to a gambling scandal, played in 17 All-Star Games, won three World Series and was the 1973 National League MVP. When interviewed after he retired from game play, he spoke of his time with the Phillies, saying "If every player could have that experience they'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play the game of baseball."

He played multiple positions, from first and second base to outfield. He began his career in 1963 with the Cincinnati Reds before moving on to the Philadelphia Phillies and the Montreal Expos. He finished off his career as a player-manager back in Cincinnati. Rose caught a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989 by then-commissioner Bart Giamatti.

In 1989, Rose was investigated after betting slips were found in an Ohio restaurant, with wagers placed by Rose through intermediaries Ron Peters and Paul Janszen, two close friends of Rose. Rose was not able to deny having bet on baseball, and Giamatti decided to dig into the matter. Janszen claimed that Rose said he would throw a game if the wager were large enough. Rose fully denied that allegation. A case was brought and settled out of court. Part of the settlement was Rose agreeing to the lifetime ban.

The agreement indicated that Rose could be reinstated in a year, but that never came. He said that he thought a reinstatement would come. "I've been in baseball for three decades and to think I'll be out of baseball for a very short period of time hurts," he said at the time. It wasn't until 2004, still hurting from the lifetime ban, that he admitted in a memoir My Prison Without Bars that he had bet on baseball and on the Reds. For Rose, betting on the Reds or the Phillies to win was not something he thought was a bad thing.

"I knew that I broke the letter of the law. But I didn't think that I broke the 'spirit' of the law, which was designed to prevent corruption. During the times I gambled as a manager, I never took an unfair advantage. I never bet more or less based on injuries or inside information," Rose wrote in his book. "I never allowed my wagers to influence my baseball decisions. So in my mind, I wasn't corrupt. Granted, it was a thin distinction but it was one that I believed at the time."

"For me, the thrill wasn't about the odds. I got involved because I was rooting for my teams — no, believing in my teams. I bet the Reds to win every time. I bet the Phillies to win even though they were huge underdogs and on a losing streak," Rose wrote in his book. "It wasn't the smart way to bet. But it was my gut feeling ... and I always bet with my guy. I never — ever — bet against my teams. If I had, I'd be doubting everything I believed in. And, hell, to my way of thinking, we were going to win every night. You can't be a competitor and think otherwise."

In 2022, he was again denied reinstatement by commissioner Rob Manfred. At the time, Rose said "I've been suspended over 30years. That's a long time to be suspended for betting on your own team to win. And I was wrong. But that mistake was made. Time usually heals everything. It seems like it does in baseball, except when you talk about the Pete Rose case."

Baseball and betting have been a toxic combo since the Chicago White Sox threw the 1919 World Series for money. Eight of the players engaged in fixing the World Series and were referred to as the Black Socks. When a trial came up because of it, the players were found to be not-guilty but they were banned from baseball for life.