October Legends
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/2/2013
The culmination of Major League Baseball’s investigation into the gambling activities of Pete Rose, the 225-page Dowd Report prepared by Special Counsel to the Commissioner John M. Dowd Esq. submitted to Commissioner Bart Giamatti in May of 1989, ultimately spelled Rose’s demise, but it is the physical evidence of items like these checks signed by Rose that made the report stick. First National Bank of Cincinnati Check #367 and #368 from the account of Pete Rose are each dated 2-5-86, payable to “Cash” in the amount of $8,000, both are signed by Rose and referenced in the corresponding pages of the Dowd report also contained here (pages 24-27). The following passage is written on page 24: “Gioiosa handled the payoffs of Rose’s losses to Peters. 100/ Peters remembered one particular occasion, in 1986, when Rose owed him $24,000. 101/ He said that Gioiosa came to see him at Jonathan’s Café, a restaurant owned by Peters in Franklin, Ohio, and tried to pay him with three $8,000 checks payable to cash and signed by Pete Rose. 102/” The report goes on to list the checks as “Exhibit 23,” and continues to report: “Mike Fry did not specifically recall cashing these checks,” both of which contained here are indeed endorsed by Fry. Pages 201 and 202 of the report also contained here reference the signatures on the back of check# 368: “Ron Peters testimony is corroborated by the three $8,000 checks signed by Pete Rose on February 5, 1986 endorsed by Fry and cashed by Gioiosa.” Check #435, also contained here, dated January 16, 1987, payable to cash in the amount of $10,000 was signed by Rose and cashed by Rose (also endorsed on the back) at the Latonia Race Course the same day and is referenced in the corresponding pages (107-108) of the report also contained here. Check #289, contained here, dated 5-4-87, payable to cash in the amount of $5,000 is signed by Rose, endorsed on the back by Rose’s friend and associate Paul Janzen, and was cashed at the Fifth Third Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio on May 8, 1987. The accompanying text on page 13 of the Dowd Report reads as follows: “Humphrey personally observed Gioiosa placing bets for $1,000 to $5,000 per game on football, basketball and baseball. 35/ Rose would call Gioiosa at the gym frequently, and Gioiosa told Humphrey that he was placing the bets for Pete Rose. 36/” This PSA/DNA pre-certified lot also includes pages 117 and 118 of the report section V. SUMMARY OF BETTING ACTIVITY IN 1987. The Pete Rose story is a dramatic part of modern baseball history and the items contained in this lot are intimately connected to this enduring saga.