But will the Veterans Committee salute Pete Rose?

ASK THESE GUYS HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT IT


FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: BASEBALL'S HAUL OF FAME

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203547904574279891736968048.html

I'M SURE THEY WILL NEVER ADMIT TO LETTING SUCH ISSUES CLOUD THEIR VOTING.

Mr. Sutton did not mention other, more commercial considerations that might run through the head of a recently inducted Hall of Famer. Cooperstown considers money talk vulgar, perhaps even sacrilegious.

BUT......

But baseball nostalgia is a multibillion-dollar industry, and the 60 or so living Hall of Famers at its pinnacle are in a unique position to cash in. Generally, retired players earn baseball money signing autographs, hawking memorabilia, giving speeches, making public appearances, endorsing products and doing public relations.

OBVIOUSLY TO THE NO-DOUBT HALL OF FAMERS, IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. IT'S THE MARGINAL GUYS THAT SCREW IT UP WITH THE OVER-INFLATED OPINION OF THEIR SELF-IMPORTANCE THAT COMES WITH MEMBERSHIP.

Some stars were so great that being in the hall doesn’t add much to their market value. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Cal Ripken and a few other transcendent figures would command top dollar even without Cooperstown. But for more marginal immortals such as Mr. Rice, Mr. Sutton, Gary Carter, Orlando Cepeda, Ryne Sandberg or Goose Gossage, getting into the hall is worth a great deal of money.

AND MONEY IS AT THE ROOT OF IT, DON'T KID YOURSELF.

On the day Mr. Gossage’s election was announced, in mid-January 2007, I spent several hours with him and his agent, Andrew Levy. Their cellphones never stopped ringing. Mr. Gossage bantered with George Brett, Joe Torre and other baseball friends who called to offer congratulations. Meanwhile, Mr. Levy furiously fielded business offers. “Until now, he’s been getting between $7,500 and $10,000 per speech,” Mr. Levy told me. “Today, his price just tripled.” The Goose had laid a golden egg.

THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THERE H.O.F. INITIALS.

“‘HoF’ after a signature is the single best predictor of baseball price,” says Steve Verkman, proprietor of Clean Sweep Auctions, one of the country’s largest memorabilia dealerships. He estimates there are about 10,000 collectors around the world interested exclusively in Hall of Famer items, and many more general collectors who covet them. There is an active market in Cooperstown futures, and when someone unexpected is chosen by the Hall of Fame, prices go through the roof. “When Bruce Sutter went in, that changed everything for him,” Mr. Verkman told me. “The demand for his autograph increased a thousand-fold.”

IT SETS THESE GUYS UP FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.

The Hall of Fame credential means steady income for life. “Robin Roberts had a great career, but that was a long time ago and he wasn’t in a major market,” a senior executive at Steiner Memorabilia told me. “Because he’s in Cooperstown, his annual baseball income, not counting his pension, is probably in the low six figures.”

Hall of Fame-derived money is a rock-solid annuity.

WILL THE REMAINING LIVING MEMBERS VOTE TO FURTHER DILUTE THEIR SHARES IF THE CANDIDATE IN QUESTION DOES NOTHING TO INCREASE THE SIZE OF THE PIE?

In recent years the money pot has grown as the Hall of Fame, which produces and markets its own line of merchandise, has been forced to give 30% of the profits to its inductees. According to Marvin Miller, very likely the world’s greatest expert on baseball economics, this helps explain why the Veterans Committee, composed of Hall of Famers, consistently refuses to exercise its mandate to elect previously overlooked old-timers. “Nobody wants to dilute the value of his stock,” Mr. Miller told me.

In Cooperstown mythology, players ascend to the hall effortlessly, like angels being called to the right hand of God. But with so much money on the table, reality is less ethereal. Players campaign hard. Once they used corny gimmicks, like Bob Lemon sending each voter a box with a lemon in it. Nowadays, campaigns are much more sophisticated and aggressive. Bert Blyleven’s candidacy has been guided by Bill Hillsman, a political consultant who worked for Paul Wellstone and Jesse Ventura. Illinois Sen. Dick Durban’s office has worked on behalf of ex-Cub third baseman Ron Santo. The government of Venezuela hired Washington lobbyist Tim Gay to mount a Hall of Fame campaign for Hugo Chávez’s favorite shortstop, Dave Concepcion.

EVEN DEAD PEOPLE CONTINUE TO KNOCK ON THE DOOR.

Even Shoeless Joe Jackson, banned from baseball and dead more than 50 years, is now campaigning for Cooperstown. CMG Worldwide, which represents Jackson’s estate, runs a Web site dedicated to marshaling support among fans who believe Jackson was unfairly punished for his alleged role in the 1919 Black Sox scandal. CMG feels the same way, of course, but its lobbying isn’t completely disinterested. Jackson’s plaque in the Hall of Fame would probably be worth half a million dollars a year to his corporate heirs. Jackson, who died penniless, would have been astonished by such a posthumous haul of fame.

So the issue for Pete may come down to whether these guys want to further dilute their shares in H.O.F. Enterprises by allowing him entry. Does his membership increase the size of the pie enough to make it worth there while? We shall see.