Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 15, 1993 TAG: 9308150087
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: HAL BOCK ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Hint: Try Louisville.
Joe D. is stopping there for a couple of days this week to sign bats. A lot of bats. How many? Exactly 1,941.
The significance of 1941 is that it was the year DiMaggio hit in 56 consecutive games. That remains one of those magic records that keeps the Yankee Clipper etched in the psyche of baseball fans, more than 40 years after he played his last game.
He is a mythic figure, perhaps the last American icon, and that may be why before DiMaggio signs the first bat, the entire consignment has been sold, headed for the secondary market and beyond.
The original deal reportedly paid DiMaggio $3.8 million, or $1,958 per bat. If nearly $2,000 sounds expensive for a signed bat, consider today's baseball salaries and how many more bats he is likely to autograph.
And wait till you see how much they bring when they go on sale to the public.
Jerry Romolt of Pro Sports Services, who contracted for the bat signing, would not comment on how much DiMaggio was paid.
"Let's just say it was a healthy payday for him," he said.
Almost as soon as the deal was done, Romolt sold the bats to Madison Sports and Entertainment Group, a small New York company.
"Our interest was to dispose of the bats," Romolt said. "Madison will market them and they will be hot items. They are a public corporation and this will generate a lot of money for them. It was a strategic move for them. When they go on the market, the bats will sell out in no time."
The actual retailing will be done by one of cable TV's home shopping networks, the third stop for the merchandise. "They reach 40 million viewers a night," said Don Lipeles, president of Madison. "They are experienced retailers."
Madison paid Romolt a "small" markup and then turned around and charged one to the shopping network. Lipeles called it "an equitable deal where nobody gets gouged."
That means by the time the bats are sold to the public, they will have passed from DiMaggio to Pro Sports to Madison to the cable network, with profits for all concerned.
In the business of sports collecting, DiMaggio remains a heavyweight, perhaps the world champ. "Joe's a magic name," Romolt said. "He's No. 1. He transcends even Michael Jordan."
Consider the circumstances. DiMaggio never has seen so much as a hint of scandal taint his name. He remains, at age 78, a classic figure in a sport nearly devoid of current heroes.
"He is the last link to another era," Romolt said. "He followed Babe Ruth with the Yankees. He played with Lou Gehrig. He bridges the generations. And he is still an American hero."
Dealers say that DiMaggio, Ruth, Gehrig and Mickey Mantle are the most popular subjects for collectors. Monday is the 45th anniversary of Ruth's death, but he remains a subject of major interest.
"Babe never died," said Joshua Evans, chairman of Leland's, a prominent New York sports auction house. "He's like Lincoln and Washington rolled into one. He never goes away."
So when DiMaggio signs a bat, what kind of price tag is attached? Last year, a petrified 50-year-old piece of wedding cake from his marriage to Dorothy Arnold - really - fetched $600 at a New York sports memorabilia auction.
Now if somebody plunked down that much for an old piece of cake - what the buyer planned to do with that particular purchase is unclear - how much is a signed bat worth? The market decides.
"There's all kinds of memorabilia out there," Romolt said. "A lot of it is negligible. But DiMaggio signing a bat . . . there might not be 100 others out there. This may never be done again."
Step right up, folks.
by CNB