Pete Rose, whose baseball life set him on a path of both glory and shame, has passed away at the age of 83, writes Bruce Weber for The New York Times.

Rose earned praise as one of the greatest players in baseball history, setting the all-time hits record at 4,256. However, his legacy was later compromised for gambling.

In the late 1980s, the league investigated Rose, who at the time was the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, for gambling.

Investigator John Dowd revealed that Rose had bet regularly with bookmakers on a variety of sports, including baseball. Despite vehemently denying it, Rose was banned from the sport in August 1989 and subsequently declared ineligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

It wasn’t until 2002 that he admitted he did actually bet on baseball games.

The ordeal cast a huge shadow over his legacy as one of the sport’s greatest.

After 15 years with the Reds, Rose was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1979. During his second year with the Phils, he helped the ballclub with its first World Series championship.

Despite the 17 All-Star Game appearances, three World Series, the MVPs, batting titles, and several other accolades, the actions in his post-playing career kept him out of the place anyone else with similar accomplishments would have been in first-ballot.

Read more about the complicated legacy of Pete Rose in The New York Times.

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