I helped Pete Rose make Millions of Dollars!

Ok. This headline does not even come close to telling to telling the Pete Rose story that I am referring to…but is an interesting take in retrospect on my small brush with the drama of Pete Rose’s career, legend and life.

The headline really should read “Barry Halper helped Pete Rose make Millions of Dollars!” I played a very small role just doing my job.

From the 1970s through the 1990s Barry Halper was by far the biggest baseball collector and buyer in the world. He had an incredible appetite for spending money on baseball items, and for many years it seemed as if he was single-handedly supporting half the dealers in the hobby, and often buying the entire collections of dedicated collectors. He bought from everyone! The good, the bad, and the ugly (referring to the material he bought, not the dealers, though he really did deal with everyone). Nobody had the bankroll of Barry Halper and nobody was easier to deal with or more generous. He wanted to get called first on everything. Barry was a soft touch, often overpaying to make it worthwhile for dealers to be on the lookout for him. But his “buying everything and making everybody happy” approach was genius: He had the whole world “working” for him. Everyone knew he had the biggest collection from the publicity his collection generated; everyone knew he was an enthusiastic and well-heeled buyer. The combination made dealers - and everyone else! - from all over the country seek him out to see if the great Barry Halper would be interested in their baseball treasures. And he usually was!

In those early hobby days, there was no one that was collecting memorabilia like Barry. He was way ahead of his time. On top of all this, he supercharged his collecting by buying material direct from players. When he became part-owner of the Yankees, even more doors opened to get the inside track on baseball items. Barry had a lot of fun with his hobby. He was a big personality and he loved rubbing shoulders with the baseball greats that he revered, often having players honored to visit his home to see his collection. This, of course, also provided opportunity for him to get items signed, and sometimes even buy important items directly from the players. Barry became so famous that when a letter was addressed to him with no name and no address, reading something like “The Big Baseball Collector, New Jersey,” it got to him. He had an entire album with crazy correspondence like that. He was the greatest baseball collector of his day. And he was the consummate gentleman who left a trail of goodwill and a remarkable legacy of charitable good works. In 2005 Barry Halper passed away. He was only 66.


Though he had sold his collection at Sotheby’s in 2000 (no doubt due to advancing health issues), he kept what was for him a small group of baseball memorabilia. Each piece had some special meaning to him. Many signed items from heroes like Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio, for example, were personalized to him. At some point many months after his passing, the Halper family asked me to come over to look at the baseball material that remained and take away anything worthy of auction to sell. Ironically, Barry Halper’s “small collection” of items kept just for personal nostalgia rivalled most lifetime advanced collections in terms of size and value. When you’ve been collecting as long as Barry, in addition to treasured items on display all around his hobby room, there were additional valuable baseball items tucked in every nook and cranny. Many were put there – in a drawer, in an album, in a cabinet -  and forgotten about. (Sort of like how most homes are with rubber bands, paper clips, and batteries. And let’s not forget those little tubes of Super Glue. These things get put away out of sight and then are never seen again!) At some point, after the collection hobby room was finally under control, it was suggested I look in the garage. Just in case there was anything there.  


This was a GIANT garage. No cars. Just shelves and boxes. I don’t remember all that was in there – probably a lot of household items like at any house that “have to be somewhere.” But there was all kinds of baseball material in boxes of all kinds. Some was just stuff that Barry had never gotten around to working on. Some were probably boxes of items that to him were junk and he didn’t even want to buy but did anyway as a courtesy. Some were larger items like bats as well as unwieldly large items such as huge display items requiring a lot of wall space that would not have been at home inside. Literally tens of thousands of dollars worth of items. (Hundreds of thousands actually)... Some impressive, some not so much (and I would have put in my garage too), but all with value.  Trying to get a handle on what was there and where it was in the garage, I noticed a box on the very top of a shelving unit, out of the way and not easily seen. If not looking to be sure to see everything, it would be very possible to miss it. I took the box down and opened it up. Low and behold, inside were Pete Rose signed baseballs. They were hand-numbered like a limited edition and every one was inscribed and signed “I’m Sorry I Bet On Baseball. Pete Rose.”

My jaw dropped. I knew I had just found something extremely interesting and of enormous historical significance. At least in my eyes. I didn’t know if anyone else would see them exactly as I did but to me the idea of Pete Rose signing baseballs in this manner was incredible. Discovering a box of them in Barry Halper’s garage was astounding.  
 
Others felt the same way! The attention in the media the Pete Rose Confession balls got was insanity!
 
Here is the front page of the New York Daily News on September 18, 2006:

---

Maybe it was a slow news days but…The attention the story got was off the charts!

 As a most efficient way to capture the moment and provide more information, here’s a cut-and-paste of the text of the Sports Collectors Daily article that came out that same day:

“Sept 18, 2006
 
Robert Edward auctions is scheduled to sell a group of 30 of the "confession balls" as part of their April auction. Early reports on Monday indicated the origin of the balls may stem not from a guilty conscience, but rather from Rose’s desire to increase his income. The balls REA is auctioning were part of the Barry Halper estate. Halper’s massive collection was sold some time ago, but he apparently acquired several items afterward, including this group of baseballs.
 
REA President Rob Lifson told SportsCollectorsDaily that he believes 303 exist since Rose numbered each ball with an "of 303" notation. Not nearly that many have surfaced as of yet, however. Rose’s business manager, Warren Greene, indicated he believed the balls were signed informally and number far less than the "303" designation written on them. Typical Rose single-signed baseballs typically sell for $25-50 each. Lifson indicated the "confession" balls would be sent in for authentication but if there is no exclusive arrangement regarding the inscription, it’s likely their value could be affected negatively should Rose and Greene opt to do another signing using the same phrase.
 
Later Monday, Greene told the Associated Press that a collector who got some of the "I’m sorry" baseballs gave 30 of them to Halper, a limited partner in the New York Yankees who died last December. Greene indicated the balls were given to Rose’s friends as a special gift.
Rose spends a lot of time these days at Field of Dreams in Caesar’s Las Vegas, waiting for fans to plunk down cash in exchange for an autograph.”
                                  ------End of Sports Collectors Daily Article-----

At first, there were a few angry (some a little threatening frankly) calls to my office from die-hard Rose fans and perhaps personal friends of Rose. Obviously, the purpose of selling the balls was not to embarrass or cause any problems for Pete Rose. But I think that was how a few people interpreted it.
 
These balls were going to get sold no matter what. There was an estate to settle. And if one didn’t want anyone to see these balls, why would they exist? And why would there be 303 of them? And why would any of these be sold to Barry Halper and who knows who else?
 
Here’s what I think happened: Pete Rose lived large and always had a need for money. He liked gambling too. I mean, he REALLY liked gambling. And gamblers…well…they tend to lose…

Baseball memorabilia and signings provided a lot of income over the years. Most of his income for many years. But the most valuable memorabilia items that he saved such as record-breaking hit balls and game-used jerseys and bats and awards had, for the most part, already been sold. Sometimes Pete Rose needed some extra walking-around-money or he had some "unexpected bills". When you’re Pete Rose and need some quick cash , an extra appearance here, an extra signing event there, can often solve the problem.

Rose had a lot of friends. A few close friends were very involved with the memorabilia collecting world, and with their great understanding of the hobby came up with the idea of having Pete sign and number the confession balls. The limited-edition number 303 was chosen because it was a large enough number to work with and Pete Rose's lifetime batting average was .303. This project put a sizable sum in Rose’s hands in a very easy and quick manner. How much? I would have no way of knowing but if I had to guess, it was at least $30,000. Probably $50,000. Who knows. Maybe it was $100,000. In green cash. And probably at a very opportune time for Rose (in terms of needing cash for some pressing need).

Though it took Rose only a matter of hours to sign and inscribe 303 baseballs, my belief is that he had reservations. Even though he made some mistakes in the past, Rose had a great sense of respect for the history of the game and his place in it. While he couldn’t go back in time to do a few things differently, that didn’t mean he wanted to call attention to his past mistakes. Rose would not sign baseballs in this manner if he thought people would see them. He knew that would call attention to his baseball gambling issue possibly in a way he would not be comfortable. But Pete was dealing with his closest memorabilia friends, and he was assured that the confession baseballs would not see the light of day for many years (the understanding may have even been not during his lifetime). These baseballs were a longtime investment, the existence of which was to be kept in the strictest confidence. Some were sold to recoup his collecting friends’ costs. Groups of confession balls were very quietly placed at a premium with just a few trusted collector confidants. Barry Halper was one of these buyers, and ever-the-gentleman, he honored the request to not display or even let anyone know he had these balls. “Mums the word”. Everyone was happy.

But they did not count on Barry passing away in 2005. And they did not foresee the balls naturally being found among his collectibles.  

I should add that in the months that followed the discovery of the confession balls, much of what I have presented as speculation above has actually been verified. I don’t know some of the exact details (of the financial arrangements for example) but it has been verified to me by people who were involved that the agreement was that the confession baseballs were absolutely never meant to be seen by the public. Ever. At least not for a very long time.
 
So how did all this help Rose make Millions? A cottage industry was born!
 
Here is the September 19, 2006 Sports Collectors Daily follow-up article (just one day after the confession balls became national news):

 Rose Now Selling Confession Balls on Own Website
September 19, 2006 By Rich Mueller

Irony of ironies. The magic words we waited so long for Pete Rose to say are now for sale with proceeds benefitting …..Pete Rose.

You knew it wouldn’t take long. Turns out it look even less time than we thought.

Not much more than 24 hours after the story about the "confession" baseballs broke in the national media, Pete Rose is now marketing them himself.

An advertisement on his website, PeteRose.com, offers the balls, inscribed "I’m Sorry I Bet on Baseball" and signed by Rose, for $299 each. That’s about $250 more than a single-signed, non-inscription ball sells for.
A news release issued Wednesday reads: "Pete Rose announced today that he has given Field of Dreams stores, a division of Dreams, Inc. an exclusive on an autographed baseball with his apology "I’m sorry I bet on baseball" inscribed on the ball."

The balls are available only at Field of Dreams stores nationwide, including the Forum Shops in Las Vegas where Rose appears 52 weeks a year providing autographs and photo opportunities.

"Pete’s fans are fiercely loyal and he is a legend," said Jorge Salvat, President of Field of Dreams. "Field of Dreams has a long-term relationship with Pete, and we are the exclusive distributor of this authentic autographed Pete Rose product."

"These ‘I’m sorry I bet on baseball’ balls are a part of sports history," added Salvat.

Monday morning, word came via the New York Daily News that some 30 baseballs bearing the phrase had been consigned to Robert Edward Auctions. Baseball’s all-time hits leader responded by claiming he had signed a group of those baseballs for some friends who vowed to put them away as an investment. Some had wound up in the collection of Barry Halper, and the deceased man’s family consigned them to REA for release in the company’s April 2007 sale.

Rose quickly decided to capitalize on the publicity and with no exclusive arrangement from the original signing in place, will sign them beginning this week. He appears and signs for a fee for several days each month in an agreement with the Field of Dreams collectibles store in Caesar’s Las Vegas.

                                    -------End of Sports Collectors Daily Article------

THE CRAZINESS DID NOT STOP THERE!

Rose was selling newly signed confession balls for $299 each by the boatload!  It seemed like everyone wanted one…And it seemed like practically everyone actually bought one! Rose’s signing career was supercharged. His income SOARED!

It was exciting to see Rose turn this unexpected event into a positive for himself. We had 30 balls from the original group to auction, and I thought that even though Rose was making and selling more as fast as humanly possible, some collectors would actually make a distinction between the “originally discovered numbered confession baseballs” versus newly signed examples, preferring an “original.” But whatever they went for was fine. We had an estate to settle.
 
THE INSANITY DID NOT STOP THERE!

A day later I received an inquiry from a company involved with some type of gambling business in Canada. The CEO had read about the “Pete Rose Confession Baseballs” and he wanted to know if their company could just buy them all now to use as gifts for their best customers. I told him I was sorry, no, that they were going to auction. But that he could buy baseballs inscribed in the very same way directly from Pete Rose for $299 each and I sent him a link to Pete Rose’s website. I was surprised to hear back from him that he REALLY wanted the Halper Estate examples as opposed to newly signed ones. He ONLY wanted the ones we had. Would we consider selling them for a premium? Would we sell them for $1000 each?  
 
I thought “Whoa! That’s a heck of an offer.”  Yes, these were slated to go to auction, but with an offer like that, under these circumstances (with Rose signing hundreds of new confession balls a day), it would be irresponsible for me to not bring this offer to the attention of the Halper family. After all, if they belonged to me, I would sell them in a second! The Halper family very much appreciated and were in agreement with my thought process and gave me instructions to sell them if that’s what I thought was the most desirable course of action.  So… all 30 baseballs never went to auction. They were they were sold outright for $1,000 each.

We sent out an email to our mailing list informing people that the Rose baseballs were not going to auction, that they had been sold. And we gave the link to Pete Rose’s website for anyone who wanted to buy one directly from Pete Rose.

Here’s a cut-and-paste of the September 22, 2006 Sports Collectors Daily Article (just 4 days after the confession balls became national news):
  
 
Sept 22, 2006
 
Rose Balls Withdrawn from Auction; Sold
September 22, 2006 By Rich Mueller

The 30 original "Pete Rose confession" baseballs consigned to Robert Edward Auctions have been pulled from the April sale and sold outright to a Canadian gaming company. 

The group of balls originally consigned by the family of Barry Halper became the focus of nationwide media attention because of the unique inscription.

However, when Pete Rose began marketing freshly-signed "I'm sorry I bet" balls via his website and daily appearances at a Las Vegas sports memorabilia outlet, the potential market value took a hit.  It put REA President Rob Lifson in a difficult spot, so when an offer came along to buy the group at a significant price, he pulled the balls from the auction.

"An offer to purchase all thirty Pete Rose  baseballs for $30,000 was made to us by ESI Entertainment Systems Inc., a gaming service industry company from British Columbia, Canada," Lifson wrote in an e-mail.   Citadel Commerce Corp, an  e-commerce payment solutions provider and wholly owned subsidiary of ESI, issued a news release Friday morning confirming the sale.

Citadel Commerce indicated it plans to give the baseballs away to customers via an on-line promotion.  
The balls had been consigned to REA by the family of noted sports memorabilia collector Barry Halper, who died in December of 2005. 

"REA has never before withdrawn an item that has been scheduled for auction, but in this unique instance, in light of the fact that Pete Rose is now selling baseballs signed in an identical manner on his website for $299, we advised our consignors that it was our opinion that this offer should be accepted. Our job is to make the best decisions possible for our consignors, and we have therefore executed the sale."

The $30,000 price means the baseballs were purchased for $1000 each.  Lifson said the Canadian company was made fully aware they could purchase balls from Rose At $299 but ESI "specifically wanted the REA auction examples".  It's believed Rose signed 303 of the baseballs about two years ago for acquaintances but it's not likely the balls he's now signing will be numbered, thus maintaining a niche for the original group.

"We apologize for any inconvenience to the hundreds of collectors who have contacted us during the week regarding these Pete Rose baseballs, but in this very unusual circumstance we believe that it was appropriate to recommend an outright sale," Lifson wrote.  "We are confident that collectors will appreciate our thought process, and hope that any inconvenience is more than remedied by the fact that baseballs bearing this identical inscription can now be purchased directly from Pete Rose at www.PeteRose.com."
"We wish Pete Rose all the best and we will be referring all future and previously received inquiries regarding Pete Rose baseballs to www.PeteRose.com."

Michael Meeks, President of Citadel Commerce stated, "These baseballs are a piece of sports history, and as Mr. Rose was not paid to sign them, we think it only appropriate to respect his original intent by giving away the baseballs as incentives to consumers that utilize myCitadel.com for payment of their on-line Internet purchases."

For information about the withdrawn thirty baseballs, which Lifson believes will always have a special historical significance as the original thirty Pete Rose balls discovered in Barry Halper’s basement, contact: ESI Entertainment Systems Inc. (TSX:ESY), 15th Floor, 4710 Kingsway, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5H 4M2.
 
                            -----------   End of Sports Collectors Daily Article  -----------

       

THE INSANITY DID NOT STOP THERE!

Pete Rose was selling autographs like crazy. In addition to selling balls apologizing for betting on baseball, he created a new type of offering. For a premium, he would inscribe baseballs apologizing for things he obviously had nothing to do with (in jest, as a humorous expression of commentary on his unique situation being banned from Baseball and thus the Hall of Fame). Popular examples included “I’m Sorry I Broke Up The Beatles, Pete Rose.” And “I’m sorry I shot JFK, Pete Rose.”

Pete Rose was always a favorite with fans. Ironically, the Confession Baseballs story raised his public profile even more, and as he received more attention, he was embraced anew by even more fans and collectors.
 
Rose was such a hot topic that on October 2, 2006, he appeared on the David Letterman show!

---

Here’s a youtube link to the appearance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a_JrO_USjo

Though just a small part of the interview, the confession baseballs were prominently mentioned. Pete Rose was an ambassador for the game, with a great reverence for baseball history, incredible knowledge and experience, countless records to his name, and a unique story. He was a true living legend. He was always a great interview about baseball history and current baseball events as well. But it was the confession baseballs story that prompted The Letterman Show to book Pete Rose!
 
Pete Rose is gone now but to me (and countless fans) he will always be remembered as the timeless Baseball Immortal that appears on 1960s Topps baseball cards I treasured as a kid:

This whole post isn’t really a “story.” It’s more like a rambling hopefully fun account of what I always thought was a very interesting event in the auction world as I experienced it. I enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoyed reading!
 
Robert Lifson