Agreement That Banned Pete Rose from Baseball Heading to Auction

September 16, 2012 By Editor

Pete Rose’s personal copy of the document in which he accepted his lifetime banishment from Major League Baseball is going on the auction block.

Newly launched Goldin Auctions is selling the famous 1989 agreement in its upcoming catalog auction.

“I think this has the potential to be a $1 million-plus document,” company president Ken Goldin told ESPN. Goldin says his company is selling the agreement, he says, on behalf of a private client who obtained it from Rose.

Rose signed his full name, Peter Edward Rose, on the paperwork, in which he accepts the decision of Commissioner bart Giamatti who agreed not to make any 'formal findings' about Rose betting on baseball while managing the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Rose's acceptance of the ban. The agreement didn’t preclude Rose from petitioning future commissioners for reinstatement, but 23 years later, Rose remains a pariah to Major League Baseball and isn't eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Signed by Rose, Giamatti and deputy commissioner Fay Vincent, the four-page document includes a brief signed letter of authenticity from Rose.

“I think it is the single most important document in the history of baseball,” Goldin said.

The document and letter are both authenticated by PSA/DNA.

Goldin compares the Rose-Giamatti agreement with an original copy of the paperwork that documented the sale of Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees. It sold for just short of $1 million seven years ago. Goldin says he believes it would sell for $2-3 million today. “The difference is that Babe Ruth did not sign that document,” Goldin said.

Giamatti died just days after the Rose decision was announced and Vincent then became commissioner.

The paperwork does not yet have a minimum bid or reserve listed.