This sums it up about Jeter and 3000

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by canjond

Even worse...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...sct=mlb_t2_a14

Sheesh... couldn't Price at least "play hard to get"?

I wonder if Branca was signing balls "I gave up The Shot" less than a week later?

[danc]

That's simply Steiner's thing. He waits for something grand to occur and then he makes a deal. How many people purchased signatures of that Big Brown jockey with anticipation of getting the Triple crown? He was charging like $99 then and now, you can't get $5 for them.

TMZ just did video where Jeter was going to his helicopter and there was one guy with a baseball waiting for him and he asked Jeter to sign the ball and Jeter walked right by him.

I have met Jeter twice and he blew me off as well.

And Coach's Corner consignors and these eBayers have no issues getting quantities of Jeter, bypassing the Steiner brand? How do they do it, truthisoutthere, how? :-)

DanC

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

Sheesh... couldn't Price at least "play hard to get"?

I wonder if Branca was signing balls "I gave up The Shot" less than a week later?

Uh... How much money over his career do you think Branca made off of that? Do you begrudge him a single penny?

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

Sheesh... couldn't Price at least "play hard to get"?

I wonder if Branca was signing balls "I gave up The Shot" less than a week later?

FUNNY!!

[HRBAKER]

Leakage? I hope most of these guys have not gotten so jaded or insular that they regard each gratis autograph they give to be potential lost revenue.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

Leakage? I hope most of these guys have not gotten so jaded or insular that they regard each gratis autograph they give to be potential lost revenue.

Of course they haven't. But when dealers send kids into line to get free autographs that they can sell, that would be part of the issue.

[Exhibitman]

I don't think the people who are put off by the situation with Jeter are saying that they should get something for nothing or that athletes owe them something for free. I think their comments reflect a growing frustration with the attitude that is prevalent in our culture, which is take all you can grab in every context at all times, give nothing back, and damn everyone else. I don't think it is wrong for Jeter (or anyone else) to charge for autographs at a show, through mail order, etc.--it is a service rendered and if it is overpriced or unwanted, don't buy it--but I do think it is wrong when the prevalent view among athletes becomes that an unpaid autograph is something to be frowned upon, wheither you call it a freebie, brand dilution, leakage, etc. It is called "public relations" and at the right time and place is part of being in the entertainment industry. As a public person/celebrity who earns millions trading on the goodwill of the public as a product endorser, one of the things Jeter accepts as part of the deal is the duty [yes, it is a duty] to do right by the people who support him. I find it appalling when a ballplayer refuses to sign for a fan (unless the situation is very, very inappropriate, like in a bathroom), especially when the justification is that the fan might sell the item. If an athlete makes millions playing baseball and endorsing products that he expects kids to purchase based on his endorsements, guess what, the athletes is a role model and with that privilege comes responsibility. One of the reasons I have gone from a rabid fan who had season tickets to a person who rarely watches the game and never attends is the attitude towards the fans exhibited by players and management. Not wanting to be taken advantage of goes both ways.

Some athletes and celebrities get it. Around 1978 I was at brunch in Woodland Hills with my family and Steve Garvey and his family were in the restaurant too. At that time Garvey was the golden boy in LA; MVP/All Star, pennant winning teams, etc. A line of kids stacked up at his table. He said hello to each kid who had the nerve to approach him and signed for each one of them when he could easily have said no. I hated the Dodgers at the time (Yankees fan) and wasn't even interested in meeting him but I appreciated the effort he made. Manny Pacquiao, who has way more of a worldwide fan base than Jeter or any other US baseball player, is a willing and gracious signer. Muhammad Ali, certainly a bigger celebrity than any ballplayer, signed willingly and happily for fans before he became too ill to accommodate publicly. Even celebs are better at it than most ballplayers. I ran into Sylvester Stallone a few times around LA and every time he was courteous and signed for the fans who approached him. Anyone recall seeing George Clooney at the Oscars a few years ago cross Hollywood Blvd. to sign autographs for fans behind the barricades?

Don't get me wrong; I don't expect our heroes to be saints (unless they are saints, of course). There have always been great signers and bad signers; goes with personality. But don't tell me that taking two seconds to sign an autograph for a fan isn't part of the business. Jeter or anyone else isn't too big and too important to do the right thing, especially when they put themselves out there as role models and endorsers and are enriched by our good will. Babe Ruth is beloved not just because he was a great player but because of the way he treated his fans. In The Glory of Their Times Jimmy Austin described seeing Ruth sign for fans for hours on end, for nothing. My father still fondly recalls Babe Ruth nodding hello to him on Park Avenue in NYC when he was a kid.

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I don't think it is wrong for Jeter (or anyone else) to charge for autographs at a show, through mail order, etc.--it is a service rendered and if it is overpriced or unwanted, don't buy it--but I do think it is wrong when the prevalent view among athletes becomes that an unpaid autograph is something to be frowned upon, wheither you call it a freebie, brand dilution, leakage, etc. It is called "public relations" and at the right time and place is part of being in the entertainment industry.

As a public person/celebrity who earns millions trading on the goodwill of the public as a product endorser, one of the things Jeter accepts as part of the deal is the duty [yes, it is a duty] to do right by the people who support him. I find it appalling when a ballplayer refuses to sign for a fan (unless the situation is very, very inappropriate, like in a bathroom), especially when the justification is that the fan might sell the item.

If an athlete makes millions playing baseball and endorsing products that he expects kids to purchase based on his endorsements, guess what, the athletes is a role model and with that privilege comes responsibility. One of the reasons I have gone from a rabid fan who had season tickets to a person who rarely watches the game and never attends is the attitude towards the fans exhibited by players and management.

Not wanting to be taken advantage of goes both ways.

I agree with you a million percent.

[Vintagedegu]

-

[T206Collector]

I understand your concerns, but to hate the game as a business today, when it has been a business since 1869, in my view, is an oversimplification. So much of your gut feeling on this was expressed by fans in 1869. But people continued to love the game, and support it as wholesome entertainment, when it has been a money-driven industry for nearly 150 years.

My appreciation for the history of the game accepts this as just another chapter. I may not agree to spend $600 on a Jeter ball, but I don't hate any of the participants... Neither the fans, the teams, the players, the sellers of memorabilia, etc.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

Sheesh... couldn't Price at least "play hard to get"?

I wonder if Branca was signing balls "I gave up The Shot" less than a week later?

I wonder if Branca ever appeared at any card shows along with Bobby Thomson?

[ChiefBenderForever]

Richard so funny thanks for a good laugh, I think I did see a homeless guy one time or maybe he was from Vermont.
And Adam, not sure it is so different, if time is money, and the auto is worth something isn't it the same thing as someone asking you for money and not free on their part ? And although I do agree with you, what we think of 'them' is irrelavant and won't effect them one bit and they know it. As good as they seem to have it they also have lost any sort of privacy or freedom to enjoy the most basic of things and it has to get so old so fast I would think it gets to be a very lonely world for many of them. And when people like Mays and Bonds have a stigma of being such jerks in public I bet it keeps a lot of people at a distance as they are very careful to approach them. I guess in the end it's a thin red herring........

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

I wonder if Branca ever appeared at any card shows along with Bobby Thomson?

Sure he did, quite a lot of them. And........he answered his mail requests for free for decades after his playing days.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

Sure he did, quite a lot of them. And........he answered his mail requests for free for decades after his playing days.

Yeah..I knew he did. My point is that he was making money off of giving up the shot just like Price appears to be making money the same way.

I'm actually surprised at the reaction to this whole deal as if it's surprising to anyone on this forum that ballplayers are making money any way they can. If there is a market for it there will be a product....Derek Jeter is popular and there is a market for anything associated with him and 3000 hits at the moment...nobody should be surprised that all parties to this event are cashing in as fast as they can...no one will care 3 or 4 weeks from now...and none of this stuff that they are selling will retain its value other than perhaps the ticket stubs to the game. The t-shirts and hats will all be able to be had for pennies on the dollar on ebay for years to come.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

Sure he did, quite a lot of them. And........he answered his mail requests for free for decades after his playing days.

...until there was a market for them.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by T206Collector

...until there was a market for them.

I sent Thomson and Branca cards over the years and they were always signed for no fee. I believe Branca still signs for free through the mail.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

I wonder if Branca ever appeared at any card shows along with Bobby Thomson?

I'm sure this is a rhetorical question and you know the answer.

In my view, there is a big difference between signing DECADES later and signing less than a week later. Does Price need the money so badly that he must sign NOW? Where is the professional pride?

And by the way, I don't begrudge Ralph Branca one penny. I met him and Bobby many times and had them sign many items. It was always a pleasure.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

I'm sure this is a rhetorical question and you know the answer.

In my view, there is a big difference between signing DECADES later and signing less than a week later. Does Price need the money so badly that he must sign NOW? Where is the professional pride?

And by the way, I don't begrudge Ralph Branca one penny. I met him and Bobby many times and had them sign many items. It was always a pleasure.

When Branca gave up the shot there was no market for his autograph...it wasn't until the baseball card boom of the 80s forward that demand for that kind of stuff lit up. And really this is apples and oranges...the market is shrinking daily (hourly?) for David Price autographs tied to this event. 3000 hits is nice, but this ain't the "Shot heard round the world".