Robservations: ‘Hit King’ cashing in on his name
Before you get any further, here’s a promise.
This week’s column will not bash Mark McGwire.
Instead, let’s attack Pete Rose!
For some reason I can no longer recall, I logged on to PeteRose.com last weekend. Scrolling around the site, I happened upon the Pete Rose store, where fans can purchase various pieces of Charlie Hustle memorabilia.
There was nothing really surprising, until I began noticing the prices Rose charges for ink. Apparently, he must be using some really expensive pens, because the more he scribbles on a baseball, the more cash he wants for it.
Check out this price list:
Pete Rose autographed baseball: $83. Pete Rose autographed baseball with “1963 ROY” (Rookie of the Year) added: $90.
Seven more characters, seven more dollars. OK, that’s not too bad I guess.
But let’s continue.
Pete Rose autographed baseball with “All Century” inscription: $121.
Thirty-eight extra dollars? Just because he wrote “All Century” on the ball under his name? Interesting.
But as they say in the infomercials, wait! There’s more!
A Pete Rose autographed baseball with — and this is no joke — “4,256” (his career hits total), “Hit King,” or “1963 ROY” plus the inscription “HOF??” (for Hall of Fame, of course) will cost you a whopping $163.64.
If, for some reason, you want a baseball with the autograph of a man who convinced countless fans to support his innocence, only to sell them all out 14 years later with a book admitting guilt, that’s your business. Go right ahead and waste your cash.
But if you want a little more than his John Hancock on it, he’s going to DOUBLE the price.
I don’t care if you still support Rose, or — like me — you wish you could find that petition you signed in 2001 asking to put Pete in the Hall of Fame and wipe your name off it. Asking these ridiculous prices for your name is just prostituting yourself, plain and simple.
Somebody, please, tell me nobody is buying these things. After all, we bought Rose’s sob story for more than a decade, how much more does this sellout expect us to take?
Tuesday’s win over Riverdale kept WCHS within two games of the league lead, and if you check your scorebooks, you’ll see the Pioneers are four unearned runs away from being undefeated in 7-AAA play.
Oakland has two shots at the undefeated, league-leading Cookeville Cavaliers this weekend, so — just for two days — Pioneer fans have to be Patriot fans, as well.
As for the Pioneers, they’re hoping to keep things going behind a pair of strong starting pitchers, as they take on Blackman for a two-day series this weekend.
If they can avoid looking ahead, and can take two from the Blaze — who are tied with WCHS for third place at 4-2 in the league — the Pioneers’ matchup with the Cavs next weekend could be monumental.
For young children, there’s apparently a very fine line — somewhere around age 5 — between being enamored with a cuddly team mascot, and being absolutely terrified of a 6-foot tall raccoon.