Legendary sportscaster Jim Gray remembers MLB great Pete Rose

Legendary sportscaster Jim Gray remembers MLB great Pete Rose


Join Fox News for access to this content

Plus exclusive access to select articles and other premium content right from your account – free of charge.

By entering your email and clicking Continue, you are agreeing to Fox News. terms of use And Privacy Policyincluding ours Financial Incentive Information,

Please enter a valid email address.

pete rose He impressed Major League Baseball audiences for 24 years in three different organizations, as he set all-time records for hits, at-bats, and games played.

The Clark County coroner in Nevada confirmed to Fox News on Monday that Rose died at the age of 83. The cause of death was not immediately known. As soon as the world came to know about his death, tributes and remembrances started pouring in.

“Charlie Hustle,” as he was called in his glory days philadelphia philliesThe Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos were remembered in the baseball world as a polarizing figure who gave his all when playing in afternoon, evening or exhibition games.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Pete Rose of the Philadelphia Phillies slides into third base during a baseball game against the New York Mets on June 3, 1981 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy, File)

“Stubborn, determined, tireless, competitive, vicious competitor, from what he did with Ray Fosse during the All-Star Game, which probably mattered at the time,” legendary sportscaster Jim Gray told Fox News Digital. For the baseball fan who is more in tune with today’s stars. “I think he played and cared about results. He cared about his individual results. He cared about his team’s results and he was aggressive. The fans loved him. They loved that he played every game. Day came to work and gave his all. And as far as I know, what we saw on the field was his desire to win.”

Gray recalled some of his first memories of Rose on the field when he was the broadcaster for the Phillies pre-game show. Rose played in Philadelphia from 1979 until the middle of the 1983 season, when he was traded to the Expos.

The greatness he brought on the field was ultimately tarnished by a gambling scandal during his tenure as manager of the Reds that was not seen in the sport since the Black Sox scandal of 1919.

Rose was questioned in February 1989 about whether he gambled on baseball and, at the time, he only admitted to betting on football, basketball and horse racing and vehemently denied betting on baseball. Some of the allegations were detailed in a Sports Illustrated story, prompting attorney John M. Dowd to investigate and turn it over to then-Commissioner Bart Giamatti.

Dowd’s report was submitted to Giamatti in May 1989 and published in June 1989. The report alleged that Rose had bet on at least 52 Reds games in 1987.

Pete Rose in Philadelphia

Pete Rose died on September 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Rose eventually agreed to voluntarily appear on baseball’s ineligible list with the option that he could apply for reinstatement. Gray told Fox News Digital that Rose and Giamatti wanted to figure out how he could get back into the game, but Rose’s attorney, Reuven Katz, did not want his client to admit to gambling on baseball and the deal that followed. Take what was being offered. Rose sought comprehensive help for addiction and rehabilitation.

According to Gray, Dowd told him that Katz told Giamatti, “Peter is a legend.” To which Giamatti replied, “No, baseball is a legend.”

Baseball world mourns Pete Rose’s death: ‘Absolutely heartbroken’

Rose applied for reinstatement in 1992, 1998, 2003, 2015, 2020, and 2022. However, each commissioner, Fay Vincent, Bud Selig and Rob Manfred, either never acted on it or rejected Rose’s requests outright. Rose was prevented from being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame due to being on the ineligible list.

Rose’s support seemed divided among veterans in the game. Ted Williams said in 2000 that he did not think Rose should be in the Hall of Fame.

He explained, “I feel sorry for Pete Rose, but he committed baseball’s greatest sin. He gambled.” the new York Times,

Pete Rose in 2022

Former Philadelphia Phillies player Pete Rose greets fans during Alumni Day on August 7, 2022 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Mike Schmidt acknowledged in 2017 that Rose would not get into the Hall of Fame, but wondered why the hitting machine doesn’t get “the same level of forgiveness” as other guys when it comes to performance-enhancing drugs. . philly voice,

Years later, Rose admitted betting on baseball in an autobiography despite repeated denials – including a famous interview with Gray at Turner Field in 1999 when he was honored as part of the All-Century Team. Was done.

Additionally, as sports gambling became more prevalent across the United States, Manfred made clear that reinstating the Rose would be “an unacceptable risk”.

grey, who Wrote about Rose in my book“Talking Goats: The Moments You Remember and the Stories You Never Heard,” He said he did not find it strange that Rose was still ineligible despite baseball’s strong connection to gambling.

“No, I don’t find it strange,” Gray told Fox News Digital. “The rules were the rules and the rules were applied to him based on the conditions at the time this was going on. He signed his own exile from baseball with the opportunity to reapply and none of those The application was not successful.

Pete Rose waves to the crowd

Former Cincinnati Reds player Pete Rose greets fans after introductions during the Reds Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 15, 2023, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

“So, he knew the terms, and he agreed to those terms. And just because times have changed and things have changed, in no way does the main fundamental issue change. And that any active manager, player Or is anyone involved in baseball in an official capacity ever gambling on the game, no game can ever condone it, and if caught doing so, the punishment should be severe.”

Gray said he still thinks Rose deserves to be in Cooperstown’s hallowed halls, but with an explanation about his wrongdoings.

Click here to get the Fox News app

“Having said all this and understanding that the Hall of Fame is associated with a ban on baseball and gambling. We do not live in the Soviet Union. And you cannot erase a person’s records. And what he did on the field Hall Deserves the Hall of Fame because he had more hits than anyone else, and he was a master of it and this plaque and honor, obviously, he never got during his life, if he had to do it posthumously, maybe It should reflect he was banned from baseball and the reason for it was on the plaque – but he should be in the Hall of Fame, you can’t say it didn’t exist.

Follow Fox News Digital sports coverage on x, and subscribe Fox News Sports Huddle Newsletter,




Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *