You're overlooking the fact that Rose had 10 years with 200+ hits, and another 5 with 185+. That's surefire HOF material. I also don't think your argument about longevity holds much water, because even if cut Rose's numbers off when he turned 40, he's still at 3500+ hits. Regarding longevity, it's not as if Rose hung around by his fingernails to achieve an immortal number, like Don Sutton did. Rose's numbers are HOF quality. Don Sutton, on the other hand, is the worst modern-era HOF player. A joke, really.
In Rose's case, his average season was as follows:
639 at-bats
98 runs
194 hits
34 doubles
6 triples
7 home runs
60 RBIs
9 stolen bases (in 16 attempts)
71 walks
52 strikeouts
.303 batting average
Some of these numbers are good, but overall I'd say most people would be surprised to see his career numbers in this context. The 71 walks, 52 strikeouts and 9 stolen bases are particularly disappointing -- when you consider that he was a singles hitter who batted #1 or #2 in the lineup for most of his career.
A local radio host in New York summed it up very well last year when a caller asked why he considered Rose so overrated. The host replied that in his 23-year career, there was never a time when Rose was even the best player on his own team, let alone compared to the all-time greats.