Most of Rose’s childhood was spent playing baseball with friends.  He later played for his local little league team and went on to play both baseball and football at Western Hills High School. Rose played so well in high school that he was offered a contract to play for the Cincinnati Reds after his high school graduation; he eagerly accepted. He began his career playing for the Reds minor league team in Geneva, New York. Rose improved his game and was brought up through the ranks of the Reds organization over the next three years. During that time, he played for the Reds farm team in Tampa, Florida and Class B team in Macon, Georgia. 

When the 1963 season started, Pete was the Reds' regular at second base. His hard work ethic prompted Hall-of-Fame Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford to label him "Charlie Hustle," a nickname that Rose would be known by for the rest of his career. He hit .273 that season and appeared in nearly every game. He was rewarded for his efforts that season when he was named National League Rookie of the Year in 1963.

Rose's playing thrived from 1965 to 1973. He consistently batted over .300 and was an important component to the "Big Red Machine" that dominated the National League in the 1970's. During this time, Rose played on four league champions and two World Series winners. In 1975, Pete was named the World Series Most Valuable Player, Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year and The Sporting News Man of the Year.

In 1978, Pete signed as a free agent to play for the Philadelphia Phillies. Just like his days with the Reds, Rose was instrumental on the Phillies pennant winning teams in 1980 and 1983 and led the team to the World Series Championship in 1980. While in Philadelphia, Rose was married to Carol Woliung. They have two children, Tyler born in 1984 and Cara who was born in 1989.

Prior to the 1984 season, Pete signed to play with the Montreal Expos. That relationship however was short lived and Rose was given the chance to return to the Reds during the summer of 1984. Once he was told that he could both act as a manager as well as play, his decision about returning was an easy one to make. On August 16, 1984, Pete was again a Cincinnati Red. On September 11, of the following year, Pete established his place in baseball history when he set the all-time major league hit record of 4,192 breaking Hall of Famer Ty Cobb's mark of 4,191. Pete totaled an amazing 4,256 hits by the time of his retirement.

Rose retired from baseball after the 1986 season. His days with the Reds were not over though. He served as manager from 1985 to 1988, helping the Reds to 4 consecutive 2nd place finishes and was considered to be one of the best managers in baseball. However, in 1989 Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti announced an investigation of Pete’s gambling activities. After the investigation, in a very controversial decision, Rose was declared permanently ineligible in accordance with Major League Rule 21 and place on the Ineligible List. Rose does, however, have the rights to apply for reinstatement.

Pete currently lives in Florida and California where he is the owner of two successful restaurants.  To this day Pete still continues his fight to be instated into the Baseball Hall Of Fame.