Pete Rose -- The Autograph King?

[Brent G.]

Originally Posted by jingram058

Are you folks blind? Read up on how much Babe Ruth signed.

Can you provide the Cliffs Notes for us?

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by Brent G.

Can you provide the Cliffs Notes for us?

Here's one example. By all accounts, he did this on a daily basis FOR YEARS! And not just baseballs, but basically everything that people sent to him. And again, he DIDN'T CHARGE A FEE to do it!

[Brent G.]

That’s a great pic!

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by Brent G.

That’s a great pic!

We've had discussions here in the past about this...if Babe Ruth signed literally thousands of baseballs, photos, cards, etc., why then are these things so expensive today? The answer we are left with is, because it's Babe Ruth.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Ruth signed a ton, but only made it to his early 50's.

Feller lived nearly twice that long and was part of the card show and insert card boom. He rarely charged more than a few bucks an autograph, whereas Rose's price was a fair amount higher. Feller would also try to sell stacks of pre-signed pieces which he'd bring to shows and signings and would drastically drop the price if you bought in bulk! On top of everything else, Feller often did free signings at events where he was paid a flat rate by whoever was hosting the event, so even more stuff was signed because nobody turns down "free". Rose seemed to shy away from doing those sorts of events for many years.

TL; DR Ruth died too young to hold the title. Rose lived to 83 but charged more than Feller, who lived to 92. Feller is the king by far.

[JollyElm]

783. Infelleribility
The oft-heard quip that whenever you run across anything Bob Feller related, it is virtually guaranteed that the piece will have his autograph on it.


On a side note, that famous Babe picture (it's odd to talk about a pic of a babe and the subject is a man, but I digress) is just a staged photo op with the piles of boxes and everything, so it's possible he only signed (or pretended to sign) a single baseball. Just saying.

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Ruth signed a ton, but only made it to his early 50's.

Feller lived nearly twice that long and was part of the card show and insert card boom. He rarely charged more than a few bucks an autograph, whereas Rose's price was a fair amount higher. Feller would also try to sell stacks of pre-signed pieces which he'd bring to shows and signings and would drastically drop the price if you bought in bulk! On top of everything else, Feller often did free signings at events where he was paid a flat rate by whoever was hosting the event, so even more stuff was signed because nobody turns down "free". Rose seemed to shy away from doing those sorts of events for many years.

TL; DR Ruth died too young to hold the title. Rose lived to 83 but charged more than Feller, who lived to 92. Feller is the king by far.

I love Bob Feller and Pete Rose. I met Bob Feller when he visited my ship, USS Independence CV-62. He was awesome. Both were prolific signers. But Bob Feller and Pete Rose could have lived to be 200 years old and they wouldn't have signed as much as Babe Ruth, in my opinion. The preponderance of evidence makes that very clear. There are just too many recountings by too many people that state the insane volumes of stuff that Babe Ruth signed.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by jingram058

I love Bob Feller and Pete Rose. I met Bob Feller when he visited my ship, USS Independence CV-62. He was awesome. Both were prolific signers. But Bob Feller and Pete Rose could have lived to be 200 years old and they wouldn't have signed as much as Babe Ruth, in my opinion. The preponderance of evidence makes that very clear. There are just too many recountings by too many people that state the insane volumes of stuff that Babe Ruth signed.

Have to disagree. Rose planted himself in Vegas in public and signed for a conga line of visitors for years.

Rose made signing a full time job for nearly a 40 year retirement.