Posted By:
Rob DewolfClint,
Rock and I ended up becoming good friends (I fondly remember going out to eat with him and his father a few times at his favorite Italian resaurant). I actually had played for El Paso the two previous seasons before getting traded to the Padres, so I was familiar with his shop (LOVED the fact it was located below a bowling alley) when I was traded to the Padres and arrived in Wichita for the summer.
We had a standing arrangement in which he would give me $25 in trade for every autographed team ball from the Texas League that I'd bring in. The actual baseballs didn't cost me anything, and I'd have the batboys go to the opposing locker room and get a half-dozen or signed for each team on every homestand. Sweet deal! One of the coolest things I remember getting from him was an unopened Sports Kings pack. I think it took 12 autographed balls!
He was a good guy, and I spent lots of hours just hanging out in his store before games. The year I was there, Andy Benes was on the team after having just been drafted. Rock, seeing opportunity when it presented itself, issued about four different sets of the team that year. What a guy!