Tony Perez, a close friend and former teammate of Pete Rose, noticed that the MLB legend wasn’t his usual self when they met just a day before his death.
The sport’s all-time hits leader died Monday at the age of 83, with the Clark County Medical Examiner/Coroner’s Office at Snowfall revealing that he died of heart disease.
Rose was found dead in his Las Vegas home Monday afternoon by a family member. Authorities say Rose died of natural causes and had also been battling diabetes.
A day earlier, Rose joined Perez and other former Cincinnati Reds teammates for a signing session in Nashville, but Perez told him TMZ that “it wasn’t a good time” because Rose “wasn’t himself.”
Rose was photographed in a wheelchair and smiling while surrounded by her former teammates, with whom she won World Series titles in 1975 and 1976.
Rose seated with (from left) Dave Concepcion, George Foster, Tony Perez and Ken Griffey Sr.
Rose was signing autographs in Nashville on Sunday, a day before his death in Nevada.
Perez, a three-time MLB champion, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000 and hopes Rose will also be honored following his death.
His 4,256 hits are the most of any player in major league history. He was also a cult hero in his hometown of Cincinnati, where he played most of his career and then managed for six seasons.
But Rose’s legacy is complicated by his off-field actions that, among other things, led to him receiving a lifetime ban from the sport. He was also labeled “permanently ineligible” for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Rose and former MLB Commissioner Bart Giamatti agreed to a lifetime ban in August 1989 after an investigation by attorney John Dowd found that he had placed numerous bets on the Reds, violating one of the oldest rules. of baseball.
Pete Rose #14, Joe Morgan #8, Jonny Bench #5, Tony Perez #24, George Foster #15, Dave Concepcion #13, Ken Griffey #30 and Cesar Geronimo #20 of the Cincinnati Reds lineup during introductions formerly Game 1 of the 1975 World Series against the Boston Red Sox on October 11, 1975 at Fenway Park
Rose applied for reinstatement to baseball and eligibility for the Hall of Fame several times in his life. most recently at the end of 2022.
Just weeks before her passing, Rose admitted that she was still waiting for forgiveness.
“There’s nothing I can change about Pete Rose’s story,” he told the Texas television station. KLTV in an interview published on September 7.
“I keep convincing myself or telling myself, ‘Hang in there, Pete, you’ll get a second chance.'”
“This is the only country that gives you a second chance,” Rose added. “I keep hoping that one day I’ll get a second chance and I won’t need a third.”
Rose, who died Monday at the age of 83, was banned for life from baseball in 1989.
In addition to her gambling scandal, in recent years Rose was also accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a minor in the 1970s.
In 2017, the Phillies canceled his induction into the team’s Wall of Fame after a Cincinnati woman said in federal court that she had a sexual relationship with the married Rose that began during his first stint with the Reds in 1973, when She was 14 or 15 years old. .
However, Rose has never been charged with statutory rape and the statute of limitations has expired.
Although he allegedly admitted to the relationship, he insisted that he believed she was 16 at the time of the affair, making her old enough in the state of Ohio to consent to sexual activity.