Pete Rose banishment document hitting the auction block
A document banning all-time MLB hits leader Pete Rose for life is going up for auction. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The document that all-time MLB hits leader Pete Rose signed banning him for life from baseball is hitting the auction block, ESPN.com reports.
"I feel this is the most important document in baseball history," said Ken Goldin of Goldin Auctions. "I am sure he signed this document with a wink-wink, nod-nod, we'll sweep this under the rug kind of thing."
It is expected to fetch more than the $996,000 paid for a document sending Babe Ruth to the Red Sox.
Rose signed the document on August 23, 1989. Commissioner A. Bart Giamatti and deputy commissioner Fay Vincent also the document which detailed Rose’s banishment from baseball.
Giamatti died eight days after Rose signed the document. Rose applied for reinstatement in both 1992 and 1997 and later admitted in a 2004 book that he bet on baseball while he was managing the Reds. Rose says he never bet against his own team.
"In the past couple months, we've seen the record price paid for a Babe Ruth trading card ($575,000), a record price paid for a Babe Ruth jersey ($4.4 million) and a record price paid for a Babe Ruth single-signed baseball ($388,375)," Goldin said.
