Just hours after Donald Trump shocked the world by chastising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, the president took to his TruthSocial page to promise to pardon baseball great Pete Rose.
Rose, who died last year at 83, was banned from baseball for life. He admitted in 2004 that he had bet on games, though never against his own team. "Over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete pardon of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on his team winning," Trump posted on Truth Social.
"He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history."
The commander-in-chief made a similar plea during his first term in February 2020 and again in 2024.
It’s not clear what the relationship between Trump and Rose was like. In March 2016, Rose, through his attorney, was forced to come forward and deny that he endorsed Trump’s first run for the White House.
Trump posted a picture of a Rose-signed baseball that read: “Mr. Trump, Please make America great again. [Signed] Pete Rose.” It later emerged that Rose would readily write anything on a baseball for a fee of $75.
In 2017, the Philadelphia Phillies canceled a ceremony to honor Rose after allegations surfaced that he had had a sexual relationship in the 1970s with a girl before she turned 16. He said she was 16, the age of consent, at the time, ESPN reported.
Nicknamed "Charlie Hustle" for his tenacious playing style, the switch-hitting Rose amassed a record 4,256 hits in his career. His 3,562 games and 14,053 at-bats are also MLB records.Rose was named an All-Star 17 times and won the NL MVP in 1973. He was a key part of the Cincinnati Reds' "Big Red Machine" that won back-to-back World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. He clinched a third championship with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980.
Rose won three batting titles and his lifetime average was .303. He hit 160 home runs and was renowned for his speed and fearless head first slides.
However, Rose's glory on the field was partially overshadowed by the betting scandal that kept him from being named to the game's Hall of Fame.He was barred for life from baseball by Commissioner Bart Giamatti in 1989, after an investigation into allegations he had broken baseball's cardinal rule by gambling on games while he was manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
Rose proclaimed his innocence for 15 years, before admitting in 2004 he had bet on games though never against his own team.Rose petitioned the league to be allowed back into the sport numerous times over the years but was unsuccessful.
After his playing career was over, Rose offered guidance to young baseball players."I can give you three bits of advice and it's good for a baseball player, a football player, a businessman, life in general," Rose said."One, be aggressive. Two, be more aggressive. And three, never be satisfied," he said."That's the way I played the game -- never satisfied."
