On Monday, one of the best players in Major League Baseball history, Pete Rose, passed away at the age of 83 according to Mark Sheldon of mlb.com. For most of Pete Rose’s career he played for the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies. However, for 95 games during the 1984 season, the Major League Baseball leader in hits all-time played 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 deal with the Expos on January 20, 1984. He batted .259 with zero home runs and 23 runs batted in. During 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, an on base percentage of .334, and a slugging percentage of .295. The stolen base came in a 7-5 Expos win over the San Francisco Giants on May 11, 1984. The sacrifice fly came on July 13, 1984, in a 7-2 Expos win over the Reds.
Rose was traded from the Expos to the Reds on August 16, 1984 for second baseman Tom Lawless. This was not a good trade for the Expos. For the rest of the 1984 season, Lawless only batted .176 before moving on to the St. Louis Cardinals. Rose batted .365 as a player/manager with Cincinnati.
