Coroner reveals Pete Rose's cause of death

Cincinnati Reds great Pete Rose died at his Las Vegas home Monday because of a serious heart condition, a Nevada coroner said Tuesday.

Rose, 83, suffered from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which occurs when blood vessels become thick and stiff, forcing the heart to work harder and making it more difficult to circulate oxygen and nutrients throughout the body.

Melanie Rouse, the coroner in Clark County, Nevada, where Rose lived, confirmed the cause of death in a statement Tuesday. Rose's heart condition is common – about half of Americans over age 45 suffer from it – and it can worsen with age.

That appears to have been the case for Rose, who was in a wheelchair during his last public appearance Sunday at a sports memorabilia show in Nashville, Tennessee.

Rose acknowledged his health problems in 2018, when his lawyers disclosed in court filings connected to his divorce that he was "in poor health and disabled." In that same divorce case, Rose's lawyers said he struggled to walk, was on blood thinners and had undergone three heart procedures in five years.

"His health is deteriorating," the court documents said.

Despite those struggles, Rose maintained a busy schedule and continued to travel all over the country, often to sports memorabilia shows. He frequently appeared at Las Vegas casinos, where he signed autographs and posed for photos with fans.

At the Nashville event Sunday, he met several of his teammates from his days in Cincinnati with the Big Red Machine at the annual Music City Sports Collectibles and Autograph Show. A photo on Facebook showed Rose in a wheelchair while the others stood alongside him.

Rose flew home to Las Vegas a short time later and died the next day. "Amazing that they all got to see each other one last time," the post said.

Earlier this year, in April, Rose canceled an appearance at former UC basketball coach Bob Huggins' annual fish fry charitable fundraiser in West Virginia "due to health reasons," according to a post on the event's Facebook account. "We're sending Pete our warmest wishes for a full & speedy recovery," the post said.

In recent years, Rose had spoken often of his mortality and of his desire to be inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame, an honor that eluded him for three decades because of the permanent ban Major League Baseball imposed after he was found to have bet on baseball.

He recently was the subject of an HBO documentary about his life on and off the field, including his gambling. And in an interview with The Enquirer in June, Rose reflected on that life, the consequences of his gambling and his legacy in baseball and beyond.

“What, are they waiting for me to die?” Rose said of his chances of getting into the Hall of Fame. “Wouldn’t that be horrible if I died next week and then next year they reinstated me?”

The future also was on Rose's mind on Sept. 21 when he wrote his last post on the social media site X. The man known to fans as Charlie Hustle wrote about his grandson, a baseball player at La Salle University, who'd recently been featured in a Philadelphia newspaper article.

"Couldn't be more proud of my grandson," Rose wrote. "Keep hustling with La Salle baseball. The #Rose legacy lives on."

(This story has been updated with new information.)

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Coroner reveals Pete Rose's cause of death