Pete Rose is NOT the best player missing from baseball's Hall of Fame ... so says The Hit King himself, who tells TMZ Sports a Chicago White Sox legend is!!
"Joe Jackson," Rose says.
Pete made the revelation to us out in NYC on Tuesday morning -- surprisingly not saying his own name. So, we had to ask ... why?
"Well," Rose responded ... "Do you know who he is?!"
For those unfamiliar, Shoeless was a stud outfielder back in the early 1900s ... batting a career .356 while helping the Sox win the 1917 World Series.
Of course, Jackson famously was involved in the Black Sox Scandal -- where Chicago players allegedly accepted money to throw the 1919 World Series -- and he's been banned from the Hall ever since.
Rose clearly thinks that's a mistake ... saying Jackson is the most talented player not in the HOF ... which is shocking, considering Pete's a 17-time All-Star with 4,256 career hits!!!