CINCINNATI — Denny Lundy felt like he lost a friend Monday night. Tom Moore thought Pete Rose was immortal.
For Rose’s Western Hills High School teammates, his death is a moment to reflect on the legacy of the Cincinnati Reds legendary player.
“Pete was a real hero of mine,” said Lundy, a 1959 Western Hills graduate who was a left-handed pitcher and Rose’s high school teammate. “He was always very competitive from when the game started until it was over. He walked the walk and talked the talk.”
Major League Baseball’s hits leader died Monday. He was 83.
“He belongs in the (National Baseball) Hall of Fame,” Lundy said. “What he accomplished on the field is what should put him in the Hall of Fame.”
Moore, 83, remembers being in some classes with Rose at Western Hills where the 1960 graduating class had 571 students. Western Hills included students from grades 7 through 12, according to Moore.
“I thought he was going to outlive us all,” Moore said. “I just did. I just thought he was going to be the person that would live forever.”
Rose, a 1960 graduate, played second base and was recognized as a Hamilton County honorable mention selection in July 1959 by the Cincinnati Post and Times-Star.
“He was very aggressive on the field stealing bases and that nature,” Lundy said.
However, football may have been Rose’s best sport. He wore No. 55 and played halfback for the Mustangs. He helped to lead Western Hills to seven wins and a public high school co-championship in 1958.
“He was a better football player than he was baseball player,” Moore said. “He was one of the best broken-field runners that ever came down the pikes. We had some good ballgames with Pete. I blocked for him.”
Rose, who is in the Western Hills Hall of Honor, was inducted into the Buddy LaRosa’s High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. Western Hills' north driveway is still named after Rose.
“Cincinnati Public Schools mourns the passing of Western Hills High School alumnus and Reds Hall of Famer Pete Rose,” Cincinnati Public Schools said in a statement. “A 1960 graduate, Rose is forever memorialized for his contributions as a baseball and football student-athlete in the Western Hills Hall of Honor, and through the road leading to the school that bears his name.”
Those who knew Rose in high school said the Hit King took time to reconnect with classmates when the opportunity arrived over the decades. His high school friends enjoyed watching Rose’s storied baseball career.
“He was always 100% team,” said Moore. “He wanted to do his best for the team. He was always fun to watch.”
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