From the New York Daily News’ Michael O’Keefe and Teri Thompson.
Baseball’s disgraced all-time hit king may have hit an all-time low by signing balls with this shocking inscription: “I’m sorry I bet on baseball – Pete Rose.”
Thanks to a New Jersey auction house, you, too, can share in Rose’s sorrow. Robert Edward Auctions plans to sell 30 of the baseballs for an expected $1,000 a pop.
“This is where the baseball collectibles field has impact on the history of the game,” said Rob Lifson, president of the Watchung-based Robert Edward Auctions. “The collectibles field is not just shadowing the game – it’s affecting its history.”
Of course, some artifacts lend themselves to a signature better than others. If you’re waiting for a signed syringe from Jason Giambi, well, don’t hold your breath.
The Tom Sizemore autographed dildo, however, might be on eBay sooner than you think.
When I was a kid, Pete Rose was my all-time hero. About the time he hit 25 hits in a row I was 9 or 10 and really getting into it. This sounds quaint, but each morning I’d run for the newspaper (sports radio and TV was minor compared to the long shadow of Mr. Shirley Povich) to see if he hit one and scour the arcane box score to calculate results. then I’d mark down in a notebook one more hashmark for the streak and increase the lifetime hits by one. I did that for at least two weeks every morning until his streak was broken and that ended up on the front page of the sports.
Shaken by the Pete Rose scandal I gladly got into music, where I would never ever ever never be dissappointed in my idols. Not at all. No sir.
Don