Why was Pete Rose banned for life from MLB? Gambling on games was his downfall

Pete Rose is Major League Baseball's all-time hits leader, but it's a good bet you'll never see him enshrined in Cooperstown, New York, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

That is because Rose was banned from MLB for life in August 1989 for gambling on baseball.

A league investigation concluded Rose, who died Monday at 83, not only gambled on MLB games but wagered on games involving the Cincinnati Reds when he was managing the team.

“One of the game's greatest players has engaged in a variety of acts which have stained the game, and he must now live with the consequences of those acts,’’ A. Bartlett Giamatti, MLB’s commissioner in 1989, said of the decision to ban Rose.

Rose signed an agreement with Giamatti declaring him permanently ineligible for baseball but allowing him to petition for reinstatement and avoid a formal declaration that he bet on baseball. Multiple efforts at reinstatement failed.

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The Dowd Report, the result of MLB’s investigation into Rose’s activity, included alleged betting records, bank and telephone records and other evidence. The evidence suggested Rose gambled on baseball and, in particular, on games involving the Reds in 1985, 1986 and 1987.

For 15 years, Rose denied he gambled on baseball. The denials ended in 2004 with the publication of his autobiography, “My Prison Without Bars.’’

Though Rose insisted he never bet against the Reds, he wrote that he gambled on baseball four to five times a week, something he had later admitted to then-Commissioner Bud Selig.

''My actions, which I thought were benign, call the integrity of the game into question,’’ Rose wrote. “And there's no excuse for that, but there's also no reason to punish me forever.''

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What did Pete Rose say about gambling when he was banned?

The day Rose was banned from baseball, his feet were not quite out the door. He held a news conference at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium.

“My life is baseball,’’ he said. “I hope to get back into baseball as soon as I possibly can.’’

He said, “obviously made some mistakes … but one of the mistakes wasn't betting on baseball.’’

He already was focused on the Hall of Fame, something for which he yearned for many years. His 4,256 hits are a record that will likely never be broken.

“I did my part to get into the Hall of Fame …. I got all the hits and scored all the runs and won all the games,’’ he said. “I can't really worry about something that's not in my control."

As late as 2023, Rose talked about the possibility of MLB and its commissioner, Rob Manfred, reinstating him.

“I’m the one that screwed up and if (Manfred and MLB) ever decide to give me a second chance, I’d be with open arms understanding,” Rose told Forbes. “Baseball has made up their mind on me. I could tell them I’m going to die tomorrow and they wouldn’t change their mind.

“I’ve been suspended over 30 years. That’s a long time to be suspended for betting on your own team to win. And I was wrong. But that mistake was made. Time usually heals everything. It seems like it does in baseball, except when you talk about the Pete Rose case.”

Manfred could not be persuaded.

In 2023, Manfred told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, "We've always approached the issue of gambling from the proposition that players and other people who are in a position to influence the outcome of the game are going to be subject to a different set of rules than everyone else in the world.

"Pete Rose violated what is sort of rule one in baseball, and the consequences of that are clear in the rule, and we've continued to abide by our own rules. It's just the rules are different for players. It's part of the responsibility that comes with the privilege of being a major league player."

What did Pete Rose do after he was banned for gambling?

As recently as last month, Rose stood in front of his legendary headfirst slide statue in Cincinnati, where he was born. It’s where he became a baseball legend, but was not his home once he retired.

Las Vegas is where Rose spent most of his life after baseball.

Though he never was reinstated, Rose continued to be celebrated and marketable. Rose regularly autographed baseballs and other memorabilia, and in 2022 he sold personalized videos. The caption of a recent photo posted on X shows Rose at a card show with former Reds teammates Dave Concepción, George Foster, Tony Perez and Ken Griffey Sr.

It appears at least part of the proceeds were gambled.

In 2018, Pete Rose's estranged wife alleged Rose remained a "high-stake gambler" and had repeatedly failed to pay support on time, according to documents reviewed by USA TODAY Sports. 

Rose's second wife, Carol, made the allegations in a filing in Los Angeles Superior Court as part of a divorce case that began in 2011.

Carol Rose also alleged the banned baseball star continued to wager large sums of money and owed large sums of money to casinos and the Internal Revenue Service.

A new HBO docuseries prompted Rose to reflect on the cost of it all.

“You have to understand one thing, ladies and gentlemen,” Rose said at a Q&A after the premiere of episode one of “Charlie Hustle & The Matter of Pete Rose, according to Deadline. “Gambling cost me a hundred million [dollars]. That’s what I’d have made in baseball if I hadn’t got suspended.”

His world extended beyond Las Vegas.

A post on Rose’s X account on Sept. 21 celebrated one of his own: “Couldn’t be more proud of my grandson.’’ Peter Edward Rose III “a.k.a. PJ Rose’’ had committed to play baseball for La Salle in Philadelphia.

“The #Rose legacy,’’ wrote Peter Edward Rose Sr.

Follow Josh Peter on social media @joshlpeter11

(This story was updated to add new information and a video.)

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