Cincinnati Reds’ great Pete Rose rides off into the sunset

With his statue outside of the Cincinnati Reds’ ballpark there is nothing left for Pete Rose to do.

The Cincinnati Reds had one last weekend to celebrate Pete Rose, leaving him with nothing left to hope for.  MLB has ruled that he will not be reinstated, blocking Rose from the Hall of Fame.  That is his last frontier.

The Philadelphia Phillies plan to add Rose to their Wall of Fame this summer.  That is akin to the New York Yankees’ Monument Park.  It is the last celebration that Rose hasn’t been through, excluding the Hall of Fame.

The Reds gave Rose as iconic a statue as anyone could hope for.  He is sliding head first with his hair in the wind.  For many Reds’ fans this is their enduring vision of Rose.

Rose can’t have his number retired in Philadelphia because the Phillies already retired number 14 for deceased pitcher Jim Bunning.  Despite his profound impact on the Phillies, he may not have warranted getting his number retired.  He only played for them for five seasons.

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Rose played 95 games for the Montreal Expos before returning to Cincinnati.  It was the tail end of his career.  When he came back to the Reds, he was chasing Ty Cobb and transitioning to being a part-time player.

This is one last chance for the Cincinnati Reds’ fans to celebrate the greatness of Pete Rose as the best player in franchise history.

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Rose played first, second third, and the outfield for the Reds.  He may not be the best player at any of those individual positions.  Each one has someone in the Hall of Fame or a player named Joey Votto.  However, when you realize that he played all of those at an All-Star level, it is apparent that he was the best player in franchise history.

Some people like to focus on the fact that he appeared in more winning games than anyone else in the history of MLB.  That is impressive, but is linked somewhat to his team.  How about the other stats that he holds the all-time records in?

He owns the MLB records for games played, plate appearances, at-bats, and of course hits.  He also was a 17-time All-Star while winning both the Rookie of the Year award and an MVP.  Rose also won both 2 Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger.

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These are just the tip of what he did as a player.  Baseball has never seen a player like Rose.  No one knows this better than his fans in Cincinnati.