Pete Rose talks about autograph signing in his new book.

jrinck · January 26, 2004 5:32AM

I am currently reading Pete Rose's book, and in Chapter three he talks about how, in the mid-80's, to supplement his income (for gambling, he admits), he was active at card/memorabilia shows signing autographs. He talks about how he was cheerful and respectful to those who wanted his autograph, even staying until the last piece was signed.

This jives, however, with the Pete Rose I've heard about at shows. Many say he's sometimes surly and doesn't even look up. I once even changed my plans to go get his autograph because of negative sentiment I heard regarding him.

So what is it? Is he really a jerk, or only occasionally? What should I expect if I one day DO decide to stand in line at a show for his autograph? Would it be a good experience to bring my three year old along for a picture?

RobE · January 26, 2004 5:44AM

He was cold in tone of voice but shook my hand and took a picture with me which unfortunately didn't come out.

BigKidAtHeart · January 26, 2004 5:47AM

if paid I have always heard he was fairly nice.

it is when fans stop him on the street or somewhere
he is not going to get paid that he has reportedly
been a jerk and refused to sign.

CreeperKat · January 26, 2004 7:03AM

I paid for his autograph at a card show last year and he was very courteous. He would sign your item and take time to pose for a picture. I saw him interacting with kids but I was too far away to hear what he was asking.

gemint · January 26, 2004 7:05AM

A friend of mine is a big Pete Rose collector. I've accompanied him to the autograph area to take photo of the signing on many occassions. I'd say he's usually fairly cordial although usually his surely demeanor. He barked at a guy once for not having his item ready for signing. He also tersely corrected another collector when the guy asked him to include his lifetime hits total on the ball but couldn't tell Pete how many hits he ended up with.

I'd probably rate him a 7 to 8 out of 10 on the "friendly" scale.

1420sports · January 26, 2004 7:28AM

Agreed on the scale gemint.

I have had Pete sign on several occasions, one of which was was free. He was pretty cool during all of them, and one actually asked me some questions.

Pete is always going to have a negative vibe with some people.

sixdart · January 26, 2004 7:58AM

I have attended three of his signings over the years, and he was always very good with the crowd. He shook hands and took pictures. I didn't hear any complaints and his signature is fairly consistent.

ngfred · January 26, 2004 8:25AM

I agree that Pete is very nice at shows. I only met him once where I had 4 items signed. I was nervous as it was my first signing and its my favorite player. I stumbled to get my posters out, and was so concentrated on getting the items on the table, I hardly looked him in the eye. He declined to personalized an item, but was polite. I left my marker behind and he called me back. Pete probably thought "what a wierd Asian mother-*&(^&".

joker73 · January 26, 2004 8:25AM

He doesn't look very surly to me (Pete's the one on the right

):

This was at the Tri-Star show in SF last September, where I was around the middle of a line over 300 fans waiting for his autograph. He signed my '86 Topps sticker book (completed when I was a kid) with the picture of him at the plate just prior to hitting #4,192 on the cover. He was friendly and commented about how much he liked the '80 Phillies team that won it all (the hat clued him in I guess). For famous sports figures, the reality is that you usually have 15-20 seconds of time with the player. He signed, chatted a bit, and posed for a photo (thanks to my wife for thinking to bring the camera!). That seems pretty darn good to me, and made the experience 100% worthwhile ...

Robert

qualitycards · January 26, 2004 9:32AM

JOKER - Nice shot of you w/ Petey. I never met Rose at a show, but have met Mantle, Mays, Dimaggio, T.Williams, Aaron etc...
And never thought of bringing a camera. When I started taking the kids to shows, I brought the camera and took many shots of
the athlete signing their item for them. To me its "worth more" then the item they signed. After all, you can always pick up a signed
photo of the player, but a picture of your kid w/ the player is priceless...jay

gemint · January 26, 2004 10:10AM

Nice photo with Pete. I was thankful I took a camera to a Mantle signing a few years before his death. That photo of me shaking hands with Mantle is one of the most prized items in my collection.

RobE · January 26, 2004 2:42PM

You know when looking at that photo it makes me want to throw out mine which is a silouette of Rose and myself.The flash never went off.

Rob,that is such a great picture.

Pete is one of those cats where sometimes you hear good bad and neutral about him.I was sort of struck by Rose's presence after coming off the line for Bahnsen who was so cool and approachable.

He took the ball,signed."I asked how ya doing?" "Goood".... in a low voice.Said ok to a handshake and a picture.I thanked him said God bless you're the greatest and have my vote.He looked up but not in my eyes with a blank expression and didn't say a word.

Looking back on that signing experience and now with everything going about admiting he bet,I wonder what he thinks when fans comment in that area?I had no intent of saying anything to crack the guy but sometimes you say things quickly and think.Ooof!

I just went there with no ill intent but it could be taken that way....

John,I skimmed through his book the other day.Occasionally he mention's being greatful of fan support where now there are a lot of people who are outraged that have supported him all these years from the fans to Mike Schmidt.

On a funny note one of the first lines that I got a good laugh was his take on Sandy Koufax.

"He could though a baseball through a car wash so fast it wouldn't even get wet."

qualitycards · January 26, 2004 2:56PM

RobE - Willie Stargell said of Koufax..."hitting him is like eating soup w/ a fork"

...jay

SDSportsFan · January 26, 2004 3:02PM

Jay,

Didn't Reggie Jackson also say that about Nolan Ryan?

Steve

qualitycards · January 26, 2004 3:23PM

Steve - Never heard that about ReJax. But I stole the Stargell quote from the Jane Leavy book on Sandy Koufax "A lefty's Leagacy"
i did mess it up a little, its on page 6, and its "In the immortal words of Willie Stargell, trying to hit Koufax was "like trying to drink coffee with a fork" So we'll give the soup to Reggie and the coffee to Pops...jay

Machodoc · January 27, 2004 1:51AM

I've seen Pete at several shows over the years and he has never failed to be polite and fun to watch, especially with the kids. I was at the now infamous Pastime Productions show at the Hotel Penn in NYC in November 2002 (the one they did just before going bankrupt and stiffing many players with about $600,000-plus of appearance and signing fees). Anyway, Pete was at this show, and the Friday night before it opened I came in to the place to pick up my tickets, and there was Pete, chatting it up with the show staff and anyone who happened by. It was interesting to see him in an unstructured situation and he was a lot of fun to watch. He was in a very good mood and was happy to talk at length to people.

The biggest irony at that particular show, at least as it relates to the players present, was that they had Musial sitting at a table next to Willie Mays. Both were true to form - Stan just pleased as punch to be there and adding lots of freebies to items, and in the other corner, Wille ("dont call me Mr. Mays"), who was quiet, dour, and not any fun at all.

RobE · January 27, 2004 2:50AM

<< <i>I've seen Pete at several shows over the years and he has never failed to be polite and fun to watch, especially with the kids. I was at the now infamous Pastime Productions show at the Hotel Penn in NYC in November 2002 (the one they did just before going bankrupt and stiffing many players with about $600,000-plus of appearance and signing fees). Anyway, Pete was at this show, and the Friday night before it opened I came in to the place to pick up my tickets, and there was Pete, chatting it up with the show staff and anyone who happened by. It was interesting to see him in an unstructured situation and he was a lot of fun to watch. He was in a very good mood and was happy to talk at length to people.

The biggest irony at that particular show, at least as it relates to the players present, was that they had Musial sitting at a table next to Willie Mays. Both were true to form - Stan just pleased as punch to be there and adding lots of freebies to items, and in the other corner, Wille ("dont call me Mr. Mays"), who was quiet, dour, and not any fun at all. >>

Great story! - I guess it all depends on where you run into ball players that determines their mood for the day.

I have to agree that with the kids around Pete sitting at his table with him (two) they were pretty happy.It's possible that one was the player's son sigining between Sanberg and Rose.

Another thing Rose mentions in the book is his shame of how his younger sons grew up watching their father appear to be a criminal.He does appear to express remourse about that.And he feels bad about they way Petey Jr was treated by MLB.

Says a lot about Jr. who hit consistently in the minors around .300.However,the injuries and age probably sealed the fate of Jr.

mikeschmidt · January 27, 2004 3:35AM

With all these baseball sayings...

I recall it being said of James "Cool Papa" Bell that he was so fast that when he went to bed, he turned off the bedroom lights and was able to get under the covers before the room got dark.

(apologies for mangling a bit the actual phrase....

qualitycards · January 27, 2004 4:14AM

MS - I remeber that quote too! From a documentary about the Negro Leagues, "Only the ball was white"
Right around when that quote about Cool Papa was stated, they said he would "routinely" go from 1st to 3rd on a bunt.

In my days of writing to ball players for autographs 20 years ago, I sent Cool Papa a commemorative set of cards that was made in the '70's. I asked him to please sign a card, and keep the other cards for himself or to sign for kids requesting an auto. Not only did
he sign each card and return it, he corrected the errors on the card back, changing the date of 1927 to 1929, correcting the hit total of a specific year and so on...jay

jrinck · January 27, 2004 7:23AM

Next time he's in the Bay Area I'll take my son for an auto.

If you haven't done so already, read his book. I can't believe how open and honest he is surrounding his gambling--from horses, to football, to basketball--all the way to baseball.

I'm just at the point where he's talking about betting on baseball and how he knew he shouldn't, but was so wrapped up in his addiction that he did it anyway.

Like Anthony Michael Hall said in "Sixteen Candles": THIS is getting good!

mikeschmidt · January 27, 2004 7:49AM

<< <i>MS - I remeber that quote too! From a documentary about the Negro Leagues, "Only the ball was white"
Right around when that quote about Cool Papa was stated, they said he would "routinely" go from 1st to 3rd on a bunt.

In my days of writing to ball players for autographs 20 years ago, I sent Cool Papa a commemorative set of cards that was made in the '70's. I asked him to please sign a card, and keep the other cards for himself or to sign for kids requesting an auto. Not only did
he sign each card and return it, he corrected the errors on the card back, changing the date of 1927 to 1929, correcting the hit total of a specific year and so on...jay >>

Jay -- we really need to get together to chat sometime. I wrote to Cool Papa in the late 80s -- probably right when I was becoming a teenager, or shortly before or after, one way or another. By that time, his eyesight was gone (unbeknownst to me), but I got a really nice letter back from his (wife?), a lot of information about Cool Papa, and there was a signed index card for me to add to my collection (that he had signed some time before). It is amazing to me how many of my opinions/perceptions of ballplayers are shaped by whether they signed for me back in the day, or, more importantly, those that went the extra mile and personalized the effort. There are some really great guys out there who just happened to be MLB players. Good stuff.

Lothar52 · January 27, 2004 9:20AM

the only time my dad EVER did anything for me was to get pete rose to sign a few card for me (worthless cards) as in 1986 he was at a meyers store grand opening signing. To this day my dad hates pete as he wouldnt look up and say hi to me....my dad even said "hey pete, say hi" .....he didnt do crap......i still have the cards he signed...and i really dont even care

loth

Stone193 · January 28, 2004 6:50AM

I agree Pete runs hot and cold - I took my son to the National in '92 and he was with Johnny Bench - they both were extremely nice and in good spirits - on the otherhand, Willie Mays was awful! He never even looked up to say anything to my 8 yr. old son who spent his own $ on the ball and autograph - he is in school in NY - the ball was dumped on me years ago. I wonder though - is Pete much more approachable in recent years due to his all out campaign for reinstatement?

jrinck · January 28, 2004 8:37AM

I feel that if you are taking people's money for an auto, then bad day or not, you have an obligation to at least pretend to be cheerful. It sounds like Pete at least realizes this now. Mays, apparently, does not. But I've never had any desire to get a Mays autograph (and I certainly don't after hearing these stories), so I don't have to worry about him.

habs71 · January 28, 2004 9:04AM

<< <i>I feel that if you are taking people's money for an auto, then bad day or not, you have an obligation to at least pretend to be cheerful. It sounds like Pete at least realizes this now. >>

I don't know. Watching the news and seeing Rose sign his book, it's like an assembly line..sign book..push it aside..grab the next one..and on and on. From the what I've seen, he wasn't interacting with the people.

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Pete Rose talks about autograph signing in his new book.

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