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Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose died Monday at the age of 83. Baseball's hit king, Rose was denied access to the Hall of Fame after he gambled on baseball as a manager in 1989. His former Reds teammate Johnny Bench was on The Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday to discuss his complicated relationship with Rose.
“I am absolutely devastated. I have cried. I’ve actually cried because I didn’t want this to happen,” the former Reds catcher said. “I didn’t want this to happen to Pete. I wanted to save Pete. Yeah, we had our differences, we knocked heads on some certain things and everything else. There wasn’t one time that we didn’t shake hands or hug whenever we saw each other.”
Bench continued, “I just didn’t want [the Hall of Fame] hanging over him. I didn’t want this to be part of baseball. I didn’t want it to be a black eye on baseball to begin with. But more importantly, Pete gave everything to all of us, and yet this sickness, this addiction was too much for him to overcome.”
Pete Rose remains a Reds legend despite Hall of Fame issues
Pete Rose and Johnny Bench had their differences during their playing career and after. Rose recently went on FOX's The Brian Kilmeade Show and said, “Bench would never have made it to Hall of Fame if I wasn’t born.” Bench says that he and Rose had buried the hatchet before his passing.
“We had quite a talk out in California when we were at an event together. He said can I see you for a minute and we went to a different room. He said I apologize, I apologize for everything that I did to you during your Hall of Fame year. How it affected that. How I affected you after your career because I know all the questions are coming about me. It takes away from what you’ve achieved and it probably takes away from what I achieved but I’m sorry, I apologize.”
Reds fans poured out to Great American Ball Park to leave flowers at the Charlie Hustle statue in Cincinnati. Rose was a legend because of his West Cincinnati roots. He brought two championships to his hometown team in 1975 and 1976.
While he is not in Cooperstown, Pete Rose has taken his rightful place in the Reds' Hall of Fame. His iconic number 14 is retired alongside Bench's number five.
His passing elicited tributes from many former major leaguers including Wade Boggs, Bret Boone, Barry Larkin, Ohio politicians, and many more.
