Pete Rose found home in Las Vegas before nation began to embrace sports betting

Cincinnati Reds switch hitter Pete Rose, at bat, takes a swing during a game. (Photo by Tim Long/Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Pete Rose found a home in Las Vegas, where acceptance wasn’t a problem. Baseball’s career hits leader died Monday in that city at age 83. The man known as Charlie Hustle for his relentless play on the basepaths picked a place that embraced legalized sports betting long before most of the rest of the nation caught on. Rose was a regular at autograph sessions throughout the Las Vegas area. He engaged with those who approached him to talk about his glory days with the Reds and Phillies and maybe even to commiserate about why he wasn’t eligible for the Hall of Fame.

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. He was 83. (AP Video)