Peter Edward Rose Sr. (April 14, 1941 – September 30, 2024), nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds lineup known as the Big Red Machine for their dominance of the National League in the 1970s. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies, where he won his third World Series championship in 1980, and had a brief stint with the Montreal Expos. He managed the Reds from 1984 to 1989.

Rose was a switch hitter and is MLB's all-time leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053), singles (3,215), and outs (10,328). He won three World Series championships, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Glove Awards, and the Rookie of the Year Award. He made 17 All-Star appearances in an unequaled five positions (second baseman, left fielder, right fielder, third baseman, and first baseman). He won two Gold Glove Awards when he was an outfielder, in 1969 and 1970. He also has the third longest hit streak in MLB history at 44, and remains the last player to hit safely in 40 or more consecutive games.

In August 1989 (his last year as a manager and three years after retiring as a player), Rose was penalized with permanent ineligibility from baseball amid accusations that he gambled on baseball games while he played for and managed the Reds; the charges of wrongdoing included claims that he bet on his own team. In 1991, the Baseball Hall of Fame formally voted to ban those on the "permanently ineligible" list from induction, after previously excluding such players by informal agreement among voters. After years of public denial, he admitted in 2004 that he bet on baseball and on the Reds. The issue of his election to the Hall of Fame remains contentious throughout baseball. In 2025, he was posthumously reinstated and became eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Peter Edward Rose was born on April 14, 1941, in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of four children born to Harry Francis "Pete" Rose and LaVerne (née Bloebaum) Rose. Encouraged by his parents to participate in sports, Rose played baseball and football at Western Hills High School.

Although small for his age, Rose earned the starting running back position on his freshman football team. When he was not promoted to the varsity football team in his sophomore year, Rose was dejected and soon lost interest in his studies. He ended up repeating his sophomore year of high school.

When Rose reached his senior year, he had used up his four years of high school sports eligibility. In the spring of 1960 he played baseball in the Dayton Amateur League for a team sponsored by Frisch's Big Boy of Lebanon, Ohio. Rose played catcher, second base, and shortstop and compiled a .626 batting average. This would have been the pinnacle of Rose's baseball career if not for the help of his uncle, Buddy Bloebaum, a "bird dog" scout for the Cincinnati Reds. At Bloebaum's urging, the Reds, who had recently traded away a number of prospects who turned out to be very good, decided to take a chance on Rose. Upon his graduation from high school in 1960, he signed a professional contract for $7,000 (approximately $76,615.95 in 2025). Pete Rose played with the Macon Peaches, a minor league affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, from 1962 to 1963.

During a spring training game against the Chicago White Sox in 1963, the Reds' regular second baseman, Don Blasingame, pulled a groin muscle; Rose got his chance and made the most of it. During another spring training game against the New York Yankees, Whitey Ford gave Rose the derisive nickname "Charlie Hustle" after he sprinted to first base after drawing a walk. Rose adopted that nickname as a badge of honor. In Ken Burns's documentary Baseball, Ford's teammate (and best friend) Mickey Mantle claimed that Ford gave Rose the nickname after Rose, playing in left field, made an effort to climb the fence to try to catch a Mantle home run that was about a hundred feet over his head. According to Mantle, when he returned to the dugout, Ford said, "Hey, Mick, did you see ole Charley Hustle out there trying to catch that ball?"

On April 8, 1963, Rose made his Major League debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Crosley Field and drew a walk in his first plate appearance. After going 0-for-11, Rose got his first career Major League hit on April 13, a triple off Pittsburgh's Bob Friend. He hit .273 for the year and won the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year Award, collecting seventeen of twenty votes.