Baseball Great Pete Rose Dead at 83

Baseball great Pete Rose, who still holds the record for the most hits in Major League Baseball history, has died at the age of 83, Sports Illustrated has confirmed. ( TMZ first reported the news.)

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Rose died Monday at his Las Vegas home, his agent Ryan Fiterman told TMZ, adding that “the family is asking for privacy at this time.” No official cause of death has yet been announced.

Making his MLB debut in 1963, Rose played for more than two decades, mainly with the Cincinnati Reds, where he won two World Series and the NL Most Valuable Player award in 1973. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1979 and won a third World Series there the following year. A 17-time All-Star, Rose was nicknamed “Charlie Hustle” for his spirited style of play, and his longevity allowed him to accumulate the most hits in MLB history, breaking Ty Cobb’s mark in 1985 and retiring with 4,256 hits in total.

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Rose is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, however, because he was banned from Major League Baseball in 1989 while manager of the Reds due to accusations that he gambled on baseball, including games played by the Reds. Rose strongly denied the accusations for years and lobbied for inclusion in the Hall of Fame, but he admitted years later that he did bet on games, and he was never reinstated or inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Rose’s status as a baseball superstar made him a pop culture icon, with guest appearances on Veronica’s Closet and Arli$$ . He appeared in a number of the WWE’s annual WrestleMania events and had a brief stint as a baseball analyst for Fox Sports as well. He also starred in a short-lived TLC reality series with his fiancée Kiana Kim, Pete Rose: Hits & Mrs. , that aired in 2013.

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