Pete Rose's cause of death revealed as baseball legend spent final days in company of former teammates
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: The Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner revealed on Tuesday, October 1, that MLB legend Pete Rose died of natural causes stemming from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Rose died at 83 on Monday, September 30, evening at his home in Las Vegas. His agent, Ryan Fiterman of Fiterman Sports, confirmed it and added that "the family is asking for privacy at this time".
Pete Rose's cause of death revealed
The coroner’s findings also mentioned that diabetes was also cited as a contributing factor. Moreover, There weren't any reports that indicated Rose had been seriously ill before his death.
However, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that court filings in 2018 connected to his divorce showed that Rose was "in poor health and disabled".
Rose’s lawyer also stated that Rose struggled to walk, had been on blood thinners, and underwent three heart procedures in five years, per the outlet.
The late MLB star spent the day before his death enjoying time with former teammates, per the New York Post. The Facebook page of the Music City Sports Collectables and Autograph Show posted a picture that showed Rose in a wheelchair along with former teammates Dave Concepcion, George Foster, Tony Perez, and Ken Griffey Sr.
Pete Rose's career as MLB hit king
Apart from winning three World Series titles, Rose was MLB’s hit king (4,256) and was also a 17-time MLB All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner.
However, in 1989, he was banned from baseball for betting, which made him ineligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, per the outlet. He spent years denying the allegations before coming clean in 2004 while insisting that he never bet against the Reds.
The league said in a statement on Rose’s demise, "Major League Baseball extends its deepest condolences to Pete Rose’s family, his friends across the game, and the fans of his hometown of Cincinnati, Philadelphia and beyond who admired his greatness, grit and determination on the field of play. May he rest in peace."
Pete Rose's former teammates remember MLB legend
Many old teammates of Pete Rose remembered the MLB hit king after his death. His Western Hills High School teammate Denny Lundy said he felt like he lost a friend while another teammate Tom Moore thought Rose was immortal, per WCPO.
Lundy said, "Pete was a real hero of mine. He was always very competitive from when the game started until it was over. He walked the walk and talked the talk. He belongs in the (National Baseball) Hall of Fame. What he accomplished on the field is what should put him in the Hall of Fame."
Meanwhile, Moore said that he thought Rose was going to be the person who would live forever. He said, "I thought he was going to outlive us all. I just did. I just thought he was going to be the person that would live forever."
Moore added, "He was a better football player than he was baseball player. He was one of the best broken-field runners that ever came down the pikes. We had some good ballgames with Pete. I blocked for him."
Rose's former MLB teammate Darrel Chaney said that for him, Rose will always be "one of the greatest baseball players that ever lived", per WHIOTV. He said, "We didn’t have a ‘C’ for ‘captain’ for him in those days, but we all called him captain because that’s what he was."
He added, "He’s going to go down to me as one of the greatest baseball players that ever lived and one of the guys that made the biggest mistake of his life by getting involved in gambling and letting it carry over until he ended up betting on the game. But he understood that all the way to the end."
