It was the night of September 11, 1985 and as Pete Rose strode to the plate in the bottom of the first inning, everyone in Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium was on their feet. Rose promptly singled to left center field for his 4,192 career hit, breaking Ty Cobb’s long standing record.

      This approximately 12 x 15-inch lineup card has the handwritten names of the starters with all substitutions duly noted. After the game, Reds first base coach Tommy Helms took the lineup card and hid it from Reds owner Marge Schott. Helms details the events in a note matted below the card stating: “This is the lineup card used the night of Sept. 11, 1985 when Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb’s hit record. Signed “Tommy Helms” and also signed by “Pete Rose”, the lineup card and Helms handwritten Letter of Provenance is attractively framed to a dimension of 16.5 x 26.75 inches.

      The entire ownership history is penned in the hand of long time owner of the card Christopher Smith, who had loaned this framed piece to the Reds Hall of Fame for four years. An LOA from Chris Eckes, curator of the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum also tells the long ago story. Interestingly, Helms also penned the lineup card, and another letter from Billy DeMars, former MLB pitcher and Reds coach tells the Tommy Helms tale, too. There are various copies of images of the lineup card on display at the museum. We feel this is one of the most significant pieces of “game used” and signed baseball memorabilia ever offered and comes with a full LOA from PSA/DNA (AA07008) for the signature on the card and letter and a LOA from the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame Museum.

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