A coroner has ruled on Pete Rose’s cause of death, one day after the Cincinnati Reds legend — whose storied career ended when he was banned from baseball for betting on games in 1989 — passed away.
Rose died from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, Clark County coroner Melanie Rouse confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE, adding that his death was of natural causes.
The former baseball pro was 83 when he died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada on Monday, Sept. 30.
TMZ was first to report the news. Rose’s agent, Ryan Fiterman of Fiterman Sports told the outlet, “The family is asking for privacy at this time,” following the news of the former athlete’s death.
Following TMZ’s report, the medical examiner in Clark County also told ESPN and ABC News that Rose was found by a family member and that there were no signs of foul play.
Cincinnati Reds principal owner and managing partner Bob Castellini issued a statement on Monday after the news of Rose’s death, saying that the organization is “deeply saddened by the news of Pete’s passing,”
“He was one of the fiercest competitors the game has ever seen, and every team he played for was better because of him,” Castellini continued on the organization’s behalf. “Pete was a Red through and through. No one loved the game more than Pete and no one loved Pete more than Reds Country. We must never forget what he accomplished.”
Rose was a Cincinnati Reds icon, winning rookie of the year in 1963, and he currently stills holds the Major League Baseball record for most hits with 4,256.
During his career, Rose earned 17 All-Star Game nods and won three World Series championships — two with the Reds in 1975 and 1976, and one with the Phillies in 1980. He also won the National League MVP award in 1973 and had 4,256 hits, which remains the record for most hits by a player in MLB history.
In 1989, he was banned from the sport for betting on games while serving as the Reds manager. After years of denying the allegations, Rose admitted to betting on teams, including his own, in his 2004 autobiography, Pete Rose: My Story.
In an interview with KTLA, believed to be his last before his death, Rose said that he still hopes the MLB will give him a “second chance” and consider him for induction into the Hall of Fame.
“It’s been a long time, and there’s been a lot of negative things happen in the world of baseball. 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.”
Source: People
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