Pete Rose

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Pete Rose was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds lineup known as the Big Red Machine for their dominance of the National League in the 1970s. He was successful playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, where he won his third World Series championship, and had a brief stint with the Montreal Expos. He managed the Reds from 1984 to 1989.

Rose was a switch hitter, and is MLB's all-time leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053), singles (3,215) and outs (10,328). He won three World Series championships, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Glove Awards, and the Rookie of the Year Award. He made 17 All-Star appearances in an unequaled five positions (second baseman, left fielder, right fielder, third baseman, and first baseman). He won two Gold Glove awards when he was an outfielder, in 1969 and 1970.

In August 1989 (his last year as a manager and three years after retiring as a player), Rose was penalized with permanent ineligibility from baseball amidst accusations that he gambled on baseball games while he played for and managed the Reds; the charges of wrongdoing included claims that he bet on his own team. In 1991, the Baseball Hall of Fame formally voted to ban those on the "permanently ineligible" list from induction, after previously excluding such players by informal agreement among voters. After years of public denial, he admitted in 2004 that he bet on baseball and on the Reds. The issue of his election to the Hall of Fame remains contentious throughout baseball.

Family life

Rose was born April 14, 1941, in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of four children born to Harry Francis "Pete" Rose and LaVerne (née Bloebaum).

Rose married Karolyn Englehardt on January 25, 1964. The couple had two children, daughter Fawn (b. 1964) and son Pete Rose Jr. (b. 1969). The marriage ended in divorce in 1980. In 1978, a paternity suit was filed naming Rose as the father of Morgan Erin Rubio. In a 1996 settlement of the lawsuit, Rose acknowledged that Rubio was his daughter.

Rose married his second wife, Carol J. Woliung, in 1984. They had two children, son Tyler (b. 1984) and daughter Cara (b. 1989), who was born two days before Rose's banishment from MLB. Rose filed for divorce from Carol in March 2011, citing irreconcilable differences, but his petition did not offer any additional details. Rose did not include a date for their separation.

While separated from his second wife, Rose began an open relationship with Kiana Kim, a Playboy model. During a 2009 interview, Rose discussed this relationship, stating, "My girl has finally decided to try to shoot for Playboy, and they were kind enough to give her an opportunity to come to Houston for an interview, and we're excited about that." A 2013 reality show called Pete Rose: Hits & Mrs., which followed the couple and his two stepchildren Cassie and Ashton, premiered on TLC on January 14, 2013. Rose and Kim became engaged since 2011 but never married.

Two of Rose's children have lived public lives. Cara has worked as a television actor, appearing as a regular in the first season of the NBC soap opera Passions and playing a recurring role on Fox's Melrose Place. She uses the stage name "Chea Courtney". His older son, Pete Rose Jr., spent 16 years as a Minor League Baseball player, advancing to the majors once for an 11-game stint with the Reds in 1997.

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