Pete Rose, a great player with a controversial legacy, rewrote baseball history but reached Cooperstown only as a vendor selling his autograph. Rose, who died Sept. 30 at age 83, will be remembered as the career leader in hits (4,256) and 17-time All-Star who also managed his hometown Cincinnati Reds for five years.

Pete Rose, baseball’s career hits leader and fallen idol who undermined his historic achievements and Hall of Fame dreams by gambling on the game he loved and once embodied, has died. Stephanie Wheatley,