Baseball Memories Come With a Price

As baseball-card shows go, this weekend’s event at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim ranks high in the national standings.

Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax and Muhammad Ali will be on hand to sign autographs today. Ted Williams, Pete Rose and Mantle will sign baseballs and photographs on Sunday.

Ex-football great Jim Brown, former Dodger Don Drysdale, outfielder Fred Lynn and retired boxer Archie Moore round out an all-star, three-sport lineup.

“There’s no group of ballplayers that’s better than those that I have,” said promoter Harlan J. Werner, 21, who hopes to draw 25,000 fans, hobbyists and professional collectors to his three-day “Show of a Lifetime.”

The caliber of the show reflects the growing popularity and profitability of sports memorabilia, particularly baseball cards, which have soared in value this decade.

About 100,000 serious investors and millions of youthful collectors nationwide are pouring an estimated $200 million into cards, autographs and assorted collectibles, according to Sports Illustrated magazine.

During this weekend’s show, dealers from more than 25 states and Canada will shop their wares at 175 booths. In addition to vintage baseball cards, they will offer autographed balls, authentic uniforms and other mementos of the national pastime and other sports.

But it is the big-name athletes who are the drawing cards--and the big winners financially. Mantle and Williams each will receive $25,000 to $30,000 plus expenses for their weekend’s work, Werner said. The others will get lesser, but still substantial, amounts.

Fans and collectors will pay box-seat prices for the top stars’ signatures: Mantle’s, Williams’ and Ali’s autographs each will cost $20. Following are Koufax at $11; Rose, $10; Drysdale, Lynn and Brown, $8, and Moore, $5.

The practice of sports figures giving autographs for double-digit fees has drawn some cries of foul. Fans sometimes grumble about the assembly-line nature of the process: They buy an autograph ticket, wait patiently for their turn and then watch their childhood idol scribble his name without so much as glancing up.

Washington Post sportswriter Shirely Povich has suggested that charging for autographs is “giving baseball a black eye, and giving kids’ hero-worship and Norman Rockwell and his America a kick in the groin.”

Promoter Werner responds that shows like his give fans a chance they would not otherwise have to see famous athletes up close. And, he says, “It’s a business.”

Admission is $5. Show times: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The best times to catch the most stars are noon to 5 p.m. today and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.