Pete Rose was sent home from hospital just days before his death last month, a new report has revealed.
The MLB legend, who was handed a lifetime ban from baseball, died from heart disease on September 30 at the age of 83.
Baseball’s all-time hit king was found dead in his Las Vegas apartment by his son, Tyler, the day after returning from an autograph convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
It has now emerged that five days prior to his death, Rose was sent away by doctors, according to a report from TMZ.
The Cincinnati Reds icon was reportedly taken to hospital on September 25 by his assistant, who was concerned for his health as she believed ‘he was acting differently.’
Pete Rose was sent home from hospital just days before his death last month
However, after running multiple tests on Rose, medics are said to have sent him home, where he passed away five days later.
Rose’s cause of death was ruled to be heart disease, the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner in Nevada confirmed. Officials also revealed that the baseball icon had been battling diabetes.
Rose had just been seen the day before at a meet-and-greet in Nashville, Tennessee – days after his trip to hospital.
However, former teammate and close friend Tony Perez told TMZ that it ‘wasn’t a good time’ because Rose was ‘not himself’.
In a haunting photo, Rose was pictured seated in a wheelchair and smiling in the photograph while surrounded by his former Cincinnati Reds teammates Dave Concepcion, George Foster, Tony Perez and Ken Griffey Sr., with whom he won World Series titles in 1975 and 1976.
Within a day, Rose would be found dead by a family member at his Nevada home, according to authorities.
Signing autographs was one of Rose’s primary occupations since receiving a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989.
Before being barred from the sport, Rose enjoyed a legendary career in the major leagues.
Rose seated with (from left) Dave Concepcion, George Foster, Tony Perez and Ken Griffey Sr.
Rose was signing autographs in Nashville on Sunday within a day of his death in Nevada
His 4,256 hits is the most of any player in Major League Baseball history. He was also a cult hero in his hometown of Cincinnati, where he played the majority of his career and then managed for six seasons.
But Rose’s legacy is complicated by his actions off the field that – among other things – saw him receive a lifetime ban from the sport. He was also branded ‘permanently ineligible’ from the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Rose and former MLB commissioner Bart Giamatti agreed to a lifetime ban in August 1989 after an investigation by lawyer John Dowd found that he placed numerous bets on the Reds, violating one of the oldest rules in baseball.
An allegation also surfaced in recent years that Rose had an improper sexual relationship with a minor in the 1970s.
However, up until his death, Rose pleaded with MLB to allow him to be reinstated for a chance to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Rose enjoyed enjoyed stints with the Philadelphia Phillies (right) and Montreal Expos (left)
A few weeks before his passing, Rose admitted he was still hoping for forgiveness.
‘There’s nothing I can change about the history of Pete Rose,’ he told Los Angeles television station KTLA in an interview published on September 7.
‘I keep convincing myself or telling myself, “Hang in there, Pete, you’ll get a second chance.”‘
‘This is the one country that gives you a second chance,’ Rose added. ‘I continue to hope that someday I’ll get a second chance, and I won’t need a third.’
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