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He also was the greatest contemporary baseball player.

He is the all-time hit leader, but he was NOT the greatest contemporary baseball player. I don't even think he was the greatest Phillie. That would go to Steve Carlton or Mike Schmidt.

He hit for average, he certainly was competitive. He could field. But if I were building a roster when both he and Mike Schmeidt were at their peak, Schmidt would start at third base ahead of Rose.

If i could pick any player off of the Big Red Machine to add to my roster, I would likely pick George Foster or Joe Morgan. I might pick Rose ahead of Johnny Bench.

Rose had little power, and though he had a lot of hits, Willie Randolph had a higher on base percentage.

Rose is every inch a Hall of Famer, but he was not the best among his contemporaries.

Good point. Shohei Ohtani has me wondering about the greatest “two-way” players stat wise...his are pretty impressive so far!

https://www.mlb.com/player/shohei-ohtani-660271