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Title: Pete Rose erased from baseball cards - Has Topps gone too far?
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URL Source: http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2013/ ... ---has-topps-gone-too-far.html
Published: Feb 13, 2013
Author: Molly Chance
Post Date: 2013-02-13 21:44:29 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 9564
Comments: 15
Baseball card collectors and fans of the game are left scratching their heads after Topps made the decision to scrub mentions of Pete Rose and his Major League Baseball records from their products.
It seems Topps quietly made the move sometime in the past few years, but the pot was stirred when sports blogger Rob Harris reported the 2013 card packs happily mentioned Barry Bonds' records while leaving Rose to stand as an anonymous record holder.
You see, on the back of each player's card are "Career Chase" stats that indicate who holds the MLB record for each stat that player is chasing. Chicagoside explains it this way:
"For Paul Konerko, the Career Chase line indicates that his 422 career home runs are 340 shy of Barry Bonds' career record of 762. Konerko -- who is knocking on the door of 37 years of age -- has an outside chance at 500 career home runs, but he certainly won't approach Barry Bonds' record. The Career Chase line isn't meant to suggest he's closing in, but it helps put his accomplishments in perspective."
Yet, when it comes to players chasing Rose' records, his name is omitted. For example, Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski's card mentions his standing in regard to the "all-time record of 4,256" hits, but no mention as to who holds that mysterious record.
pete-rose-erased-from-topps-cards-chicagoside.jpgA spokesperson for Topps says it was "a simple decision," but would not indicate what factors played into the choice. Topps has not put out a Pete Rose baseball card since 1989 when he accepted a voluntary MLB ban for betting on baseball. Due to his permanent ineligible status, Rose is also excluded from baseball's Hall of Fame.
Rose holds nearly 20 MLB records, and seven National League records. So, who is Topps to decide that his legacy should be erased from baseball history? Bonds was convicted of obstruction of justice in federal court, but his records still stand intact per the collectors' brand. So, what gives?
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#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
Does this make my old Topps Pete Rose cards more valuable?
Possibly, who knows. I have a bunch of baseball cards I put away somewhere. Late 70's early 80's. Pete Rose was my favorite baseball player.
Glenn Burke was mine.
Of course he was, he was the first openly homosexual player in major league history who's career went down the crapper after he came out. Instead of laying low and ending a great career on a fantastic note, he chose instead to wave his sexual perversion in everyones faces like a freaking banner. Then he spent the rest of his pathetic life throwing himself one hell of a pity party, hooked himself up with drugs, and died, HIV possitive! No loving wife, no children, g-children, no future decendents to show that he ever lived. Just a legacy of perverted sex, and drugs. We all have choices to make in our lives, he chose to air his dirty laundry and make people accept it, they didn't, and he wimped out! I'm sorry he's dead, don't wish that on anyone, but he made his bed when he chose drugs and sex with men, and he paid a high price. JMHO!
Never heard of this Glenn guy.
#14. To: A K A Stone (#8)
Glenn Lawrence Burke (November 16, 1952 – May 30, 1995) was a Major League Baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics from 1976 to 1979. Burke was the first and only Major League Baseball player known to have been out to his teammates and team owners during his professional career. He was the first to publicly acknowledge his homosexuality. He died from AIDS-related causes in 1995. The Dodgers eventually dealt Burke to the Oakland Athletics for Billy North. He was given little playing time on the A's, and after he suffered a knee injury before the season began, the A's sent him to the minors in Utah. The A's released him from his contract in 1979. In his four seasons, and 225 games in the majors playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland A's, Burke had 523 at-bats, batted .237 with two home runs, 38 RBI and 35 stolen bases. Burke continued his athletic endeavors after retiring from baseball. He competed in the 1986 Gay Games in basketball, and won medals in the 100 and 200 meter sprints in the first Gay Games in 1982. His jersey number at Berkeley High School was retired in his honor. Burke's homosexuality became public knowledge in a 1982 article published by Inside Sports magazine. Although he remained active in amateur competition, Burke turned to drugs to fill the void in his life when his career ended. An addiction to cocaine destroyed him both physically and financially. In 1987, his leg and foot were crushed when he was hit by a car in San Francisco. After the accident his life went into physical and financial decline. He was arrested and jailed for drugs and for a time was homeless on the streets of San Francisco for a number of years often congregating in the same neighborhood that once embraced him. His final months were spent with his sister in Oakland. He died of AIDS complications at age 42.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestTopps has not put out a Pete Rose baseball card since 1989 when he accepted a voluntary MLB ban for betting on baseball.
#2. To: Fred Mertz (#1)
Pete Rose erased from baseball cards - Has Topps gone too far?
#3. To: A K A Stone (#2)
Pete Rose was my favorite baseball player.
#4. To: meguro, A K A Stone (#3)
(Edited)
"Glenn Burke was mine."
#8. To: Murron (#4)
Replies to Comment # 8. Never heard of this Glenn guy.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 8.
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