Gallagher: R.I.P. Pete Rose

September 30, 2024

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

When the Philadelphia Phillies decided not to bring Pete Rose back for the 1984 season, the Expos stepped in to sign him.

He was entering his age-43 season but the Expos brass figured he might provide some leadership. The experiment didn't turn out that well.

Charlie Hustle didn't get to play full time like he had throughout his long career and he ended up being traded to his hometown Cincinnati Reds in mid-Aug.

Rose's career accomplishments are being remembered as the baseball world reacts to his death in Nevada at age 83 on Sept. 30, as first reported by TMZ.

Rose recorded his 4,000th hit at Olympic Stadium for the Expos off Jerry Koosman of the Phillies on April 13 and he went on to bat .259 with no homers and 23 RBI in 95 games and 314 plate appearances before he was dealt to the Reds.

"I've never seen a person who loved baseball more than Pete Rose,'' his 1984 teammate Jeff Reardon said in a Facebook post after Rose died. "He came to Montreal in 1984 and was used as a pinch-hitter mostly. He was in the dugout the whole game rooting our team on.

"It's the biggest tragedy the Hall of Fame didn't put him in. He loved the game and that was his life.''

Rose was beset by a betting scandal which saw him banned for life by commissioner Bart Giamatti in 1989.

The Cincinnati native spent 18+ seasons in total with the Reds and five with the Phillies before joining Montreal.

His lifetime batting average was .303 in a tenure that spanned 3,562 games. Not blessed with a lot of talent, he had little power or speed but he sure could hit the ball and he hustled and hustled. He ran to first base all the time -- he didn't jog. One of his niches was head-first slides.

He had passion and enthusiasm that not many players could match. He was a larger-than-life figure who loved to talk. The media loved him. He was a quote machine.

We'll sure miss him.