One of the greatest players in Major League Baseball history, Pete Rose, died Monday at the age of 83, according to Mark Sheldon mlb.com. For most of his career, Pete Rose played for the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies. However, during the 1984 season, Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in hits played 95 games professionally in Canada as an outfielder and first baseman for the Montreal Expos. Let’s take a look at Rose’s time with Montreal.
Rose signed a one-year contract with the Expos on January 20, 1984. He batted .259 with zero home runs and 23 runs batted in. In 95 games, 278 at bats and 314 plate appearances, he scored 34 runs and had 72 hits, six doubles, two triples, one stolen base, 31 walks, 82 total bases, three sacrifice bunts, one sacrifice fly, one on- Base percentage of .334 and a slugging percentage of .295. The stolen base came in a 7-5 Expos victory over the San Francisco Giants on May 11, 1984. The sacrifice fly came on July 13, 1984 in a 7-2 Expos victory over the Reds.
Rose was traded from the Expos to the Reds for second baseman Tom Lawless on August 16, 1984. This was not a good trade for the Expos. For the remainder of the 1984 season, Lawless batted just .176 before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. Rose batted .365 as a player/manager at Cincinnati.
“Gamer. Introvert. Problem solver. Creator. Thinker. Lifelong food evangelist. Alcohol advocate.”