BY MARK A. LARSON
Editor & Publisher
Back in the early ’80s, some clown ran numerous classified ads in Sports Collectors Digest offering to buy the 1963 Topps #537 Pedro Gonzalez “Rookie Stars” card for $5 … another ad from the same person offered to buy the #537 Ken McMullen Rookie for $5 … and a third ad made the same offer for #537 Al Weis.
You see, they all shared a rookie card. In fact, in 1963, four players shared the same “Rookie Stars” card. If the fourth player happened to be someone like weak-hitting infielder Mario Mendoza, then the $5 would have been a very appealing offer for an otherwise low-value card.
However, what the advertiser conveniently left out was that the fourth player on card #537 was Pete Rose. And at the time, the ’63 Topps Rose rookie was skyrocketing in value – probably selling for over $100 (maybe way over).
Clever ploy, I guess. But it always seemed kind of sleazy and a bit unscrupulous. … It can be assumed that at least a few people took up the clown’s offer since the ads ran for quite a long time. (He’d only have to find a sucker or two to make it profitable.) …
So as the old saying goes: “A Rose by any other name is still a Rose” – not a Gonzalez, not a McMullen, and certainly not a Weis.
THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN
EXCLUSIVELY FOR BaseballCardFun.com
• • •
Text Copyright © 2024 by BaseballCardFun.com / Mark A. Larson
No article appearing on this website may be reproduced without written consent of the Editor/Publisher
To keep up-to-date on additions to BaseballCardFun.com, subscribe below*
* Your email address will never be shared and is only used to announce new articles
BaseballCardFun.com 