Second Baseman,
Cincinnati Reds
Age: 22 (April 14)
Bats – Both,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’11” Weight: 192
Prior to 1963:
A Cincinnati
native, Rose excelled in football, as well as baseball, at Western Hills High
School. He then played semipro baseball where he drew the notice of major
league scouts and signed with the hometown Reds in 1960. Installed at second
base with Geneva of the Class D New York-Pennsylvania League, Rose batted .277
in 85 games. He spent 1961 in the Class D Florida State League with Tampa and
hit .331. Advancing to Macon of the Class A South Atlantic League in 1962 he
batted .330 with 31 doubles, 17 triples, 9 home runs, and 71 RBIs. Invited to
spring training with the Reds in 1963, he made the most of the opportunity with
a strong enough performance to impress manager Fred Hutchinson and make the
opening day lineup.
1963 Season Summary
Appeared in 157
games
2B – 157, LF –
1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 696 [6]
At Bats – 623 [9]
Runs – 101 [7]
Hits – 170 [15,
tied with Tony Gonzalez]
Doubles – 25 [19,
tied with Al Spangler]
Triples – 9 [7,
tied with our others]
Home Runs – 6
RBI – 41
Bases on Balls
– 55 [16]
Int. BB – 0
Strikeouts – 72
Stolen Bases – 13
[14, tied with George Altman & Tony Gonzalez]
Caught Stealing
– 15 [2]
Average - .273
OBP - .334
Slugging Pct. -
.371
Total Bases – 231
GDP – 8
Hit By Pitches
– 5 [16, tied with eight others]
Sac Hits – 6
Sac Flies – 6
[9, tied with six others]
Midseason
snapshot: 3B – 5, HR – 2, RBI – 18, AVG - .271, OBP - .343
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 4 AB) at Pittsburgh 6/6
Longest hitting
streak – 10 games
Most HR, game –
1 on six occasions
HR at home – 2
HR on road – 4
Multi-HR games
– 0
Most RBIs, game
– 3 vs. Milwaukee 9/11
Pinch-hitting –
No appearances
Fielding
Chances – 748
Put Outs – 360
Assists – 366
Errors – 22
DP - 78
Pct. - .971
Awards & Honors:
NL Rookie of
the Year: BBWAA
NL ROY Voting:
Pete Rose, Cin.:
17 of 20 votes, 85% share
Ron Hunt, NYM: 2
votes, 10% share
Ray Culp,
Phila.: 1 vote, 5% share
---
Reds went 86-76 to finish fifth in the NL, 13 games behind the pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers.
Aftermath of ‘63:
Brash and
always hustling on the field, Rose picked up the nickname “Charley Hustle” from
star Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford after he was observed running to first base after
drawing a walk in a spring exhibition game, which became a standard feature of
Rose’s style of play. He followed up his outstanding rookie season by batting
.269 in 1964 and .312 in 1965, when he led the NL with 209 hits and was an
All-Star for the first time. His play at second base also improved in addition
to his hitting. Despite the improvement in fielding Rose was briefly switched
to third base in 1966 to accommodate promising rookie second baseman Tommy
Helms. The two traded positions and Rose hit .313 with 205 hits, 38 doubles, 5
triples, 16 home runs, and 70 RBIs. He was moved to left field in 1967 as Helms
went to second base and Tony Perez to third. Rose’s hitting was not affected as
he batted .301 with 32 doubles, 8 triples, 12 home runs, and 76 RBIs despite a
shoulder injury that sidelined him for two weeks. A right fielder in 1968,
“Charley Hustle” topped the NL with 210 hits and a .335 batting average. The
hard-playing Rose won another batting title in 1969 while hitting .348 with 16
home runs and 82 RBIs and a league-high 120 runs scored. He also received a
Gold Glove for his play in right field. In 1970 the Reds, under first-year
manager Sparky Anderson, won the NL West and the league pennant and Rose
contributed a league-leading 205 hits plus 37 doubles, 9 triples, 15 home runs,
52 RBIs, and a .316 batting average for the hard-hitting club dubbed “the Big
Red Machine”. He also placed seventh in league MVP voting and was awarded
another Gold Glove. The team dropped to fourth in 1971 but “Charley Hustle”
remained productive by hitting .304 with 13 home runs and 44 RBIs. He was back
in left field for the pennant-winning Reds in 1972 but his bat remained
consistent as he led the NL with 198 hits while compiling a .307 average. In
the fifth game of the seven-game World Series loss to Oakland, he led off by
homering off ace RHP Jim “Catfish” Hunter, who he had publicly disparaged. Rose
had an MVP season in 1973 as he topped the NL with 230 hits and a .338 batting
average as the Reds again won the NL West. During the NLCS loss to the Mets he
ignited a brawl when he slid hard into shortstop Bud Harrelson. He ended up
hitting .381 with two home runs in the five-game series. Rose stayed with the
Reds through the 1978 season, remaining a consistent .300 hitter who also
topped the NL in doubles in 1974, ’75, ’76, and ’78. Cincinnati won the World
Series in 1975 and ’76. In 1978 he put together a NL-record 44-game hitting
streak to add to his list of achievements in addition to reaching his 3000th
career hit. He also made a position change to third base in 1975, where he remained
through ’78. In the 1978 offseason he became a free agent and signed with the
Philadelphia Phillies, who won a spirited bidding war for his services at $3.2
million for four years. Moved to first base, where incumbent Richie Hebner was
dealt away, “Charley Hustle” batted .331 with a league-best .418 on-base
percentage for the injury-riddled Phillies, who finished in fourth place in the
NL East. Rose appeared in every game and established himself as a team leader,
which helped the club regain first in the division in 1980 on the way to
winning the first World Series championship in franchise history. He
contributed a .282 average and league-leading 42 doubles as well as solid
defensive play. During the strike-interrupted 1981 season Rose batted .325 with
a league-leading 140 hits. Along the way he passed Stan Musial’s NL record for
career hits. 1982 proved to be the last season that the impressively durable
Rose appeared in 162 games while hitting .271 at age 41. Joined by former Reds
teammates Joe Morgan and Tony Perez in 1983, Rose split time between first base
and right field for the first several weeks of the season before settling back
at first. Not hitting well by the end of August, he spent most of September on
the bench as Len Matuszek took over at first base down the stretch. The
Phillies won the NL East and the league pennant and, with Matuszek ineligible
for the postseason, Rose returned to the lineup and batted .344 in nine games
that ended in World Series defeat. Released in the offseason, he signed with
the Montreal Expos. He hit .259 in 95 games with the Expos before he was dealt
back to the Reds, where he became player/manager. Remaining in the dual role in
1985 and appearing as a first baseman and pinch-hitter, Rose broke Ty Cobb’s
career record for hits with his 4192nd. For the year he hit .264 and
Cincinnati finished second in the NL West. He was active as a player for one
more season in 1986, following which he stayed on as manager until August of
1989 when he was banned from organized baseball by commissioner A. Bartlett
Giamatti for betting on baseball games during his managerial tenure. For his
major league career, Rose appeared in a record 3562 games and batted .303 with
the final record total of 4256 hits that included 746 doubles, 135 triples, and
160 home runs. He scored 2165 runs and compiled 1314 RBIs and set additional
career records with 15,890 plate appearances and 14,053 at bats. With the Reds
he batted .307 with 3358 hits, 601 doubles, 115 triples, 152 home runs, 1036
RBIs, and 1741 runs scored. Appearing in 67 postseason games, Rose hit .321
with 5 home runs and 22 RBIs. A 17-time All-Star, he remains ineligible for
Hall of Fame consideration. His managerial record with the Reds was 412-373. The
Reds retired his #14. Rose also spent five months in federal prison for income
tax evasion, and there have been other allegations leveled against him
regarding off-field behavior. His son Pete Jr. played briefly for the Reds in
1997.
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of
the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America
(1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from
its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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