Pete Rose Still Hoped MLB Would Give Him a ‘Second Chance’ in Final Interview Weeks Before His Death

Pete Rose was still holding out hope that he would one day make it into baseball’s Hall of Fame.

In what is believed to be his last on-camera interview, the legendary player known as Charlie Hustle looked back on his exile from the sport, just weeks before his death at his home in Las Vegas on Monday, Sept. 30 at the age of 83.

“This is the one country that gives you a second chance,” Rose told KTLA-TV. “I continue to hope that someday I’ll get a second chance, and I won’t need a third.”

The Cincinnati Reds icon — who still holds MLB’s record for most hits at 4,256 — was banned from the sport in 1989 after it was determined that he had been betting on games while he was the Reds manager.

Rose initially denied the allegation, but in his 2004 autobiography, Pete Rose: My Story, he admitted to betting on teams, including his own.

“It’s been a long time, and there’s been a lot of negative things happen in the world of baseball,” Rose told KTLA. “I was absolutely 110% wrong for what I did … and that’s bet on baseball games, and now you’re punished for the rest of your life.”

Yet Rose said he could not understand how his punishment fit his crime — especially in a day when sports betting has become a part of the landscape.

“When other guys will kill somebody, or they’ll be strung out on drugs and they’ll beat their wives and stuff like that, in a couple years, they’re back in the game,” he said.

He added, “There’s a lot of people gambling on sports, there’s no question about it. And ESPN makes a lot of money based on people betting on sports. Baseball makes a lot of money on people betting on sports … I have nothing bad to say about that. Baseball does what it does because it’s the world of baseball and they’re king.”

Months before his death, Rose’s past was examined in the HBO Max docuseries Charlie Hustle & The Matter of Pete Rose. Director Mark Monroe told PEOPLE in July that he was unsure if the retired athlete had ever expressed regret over his actions.

“I’m not so certain he does feel bad about it,” Monroe said. “But I think it depends on the day.”

To KTLA last month, Rose was resigned yet optimistic about his past and future. 

“There’s nothing I can change about the history of Pete Rose,” he said.

Rose added, “I keep convincing myself or telling myself, ‘Hang in there, Pete, you’ll get a second chance.’”