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Local man calls auction for Pete Rose By Greg Stiles Fourth of July fireworks had barely subsided when Medford�s Ron Burgess headed toward the American heartland for an unusual assignment. Travel is Burgess� business, so it wasn�t odd flying to Tulsa, Okla., and riding 90 minutes to a resort village in the northeastern part of the state. It was his hobby as an auctioneer that took him to the town of Afton, where 250 high rollers rubbed elbows with 50 heroes of bygone days at the Kids Come First Celebrity Golf Classic. They played a couple of rounds at Shangri-La Resort on the Grand Lake O� the Cherokees, heard motivational words from baseball legend Pete Rose and Tulsa businessman Marshall Smith. Then they got down to business with Burgess calling for bids on sports memorabilia like a photograph of Ty Cobb to celebrity canceled checks to a Sammy Sosa autographed bat. The crown jewel of the auction was a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth. ``It was by far the biggest thing of this type I�ve been involved in," says the 46-year-old Burgess, who is involved in about 20 charity auctions a year. Mickey Mantle started the event in 1991. After his death four years later, Smith, a professional golfer, author and businessman, became the chief organizer. Rose might be shunned by organized baseball for alleged gaming improprieties, but outside the commissioner�s reach, he remains among the game�s biggest names and was the perfect celebrity host. "The man is a gentleman all the way," Burgess says. "No matter who came up, he signed autographs all day.�� When someone baited Rose with a wager to see who could hit a tee shot closest to the pin, Rose was ready for the challenger. "OK," he replied, then turned to the camera and added: "But it�s for the kids." When the ubiquitous Hall-of-Fame question popped up, Burgess said, Rose�s reply was, "�Everybody is entitled to their opinion.� But I think he has a chip on his shoulder about it." What stuck with Burgess, however, was Rose�s willingness to go to bat when bidders sat on their hands when the Babe Ruth baseball was on the block. ``I said before we auctioned off the ball that it was valued at $50,000," Burgess said. "I started at $1,000 so that everybody could get in on it. It started to stalemate at $5,000. That�s when (Rose) came up to the stage and said, �Quit being so cheap.� When there is a celebrity on the stage, people always bid more.�� The ball fetched $13,500, nearly double the $7,250 for an autographed 1996 Masters photo of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Burgess� involvement was the result of a chance conversation in Las Vegas. "I think it�s funny," says Burgess, "that a guy who owns a travel agency, attending a seminar on Incentive and Group Travel in Las Vegas, mentions to the facilitator that auctioning is a hobby and ends up nine months later doing a charity auction in Oklahoma for Pete Rose. Go figure." Among the celebrities joining Rose were actor Dale Robertson, retired astronaut Tom Hennen, former Detroit Lions coach Tom Hudspeth, ex-major-leaguers Roy Sievers, Cal McLish, Gaylord Perry, Jim Perry, Kevin Bass, Ryne Duren, Bobby Morgan, Vern Law and Tom Tresh, former NFL players Bernie Allen, Matt Monger and Steve Owens, race car driver Tom Sneva and country and western singer Red Segal. A Joe DiMaggio autographed baseball went for $600 and a Sammy Sosa autographed bat for $500. Balls signed by Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams went for $250. Two personalized autographs on a Rose jersey went for $1,200 each. An autographed DiMaggio jersey was $2,500. A Mantle jersey went for $2,000. An autographed 1999 Ryder Cup team photo fetched $5,000, an autographed White House photo of five living presidents went for $4,750 and a photo of Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio walking hand-in-hand on a beach with two canceled checks went for $4,000. Burgess notes that checks for utility bills or other purchases by famous people have value to collectors. Although the weekend activities brought in around $100,000 for Kids Come First, Burgess figures the take from the auction could�ve been significantly higher with a little help. "A good ring crew helps make an auction a success," says Burgess, who served as a ring man for Wednesday�s 4H/FFA Hog auction and Saturday night�s beef auction at the Jackson County Fair. Ring men call out the bid to the auctioneer. "We have six (ring men) at the fair, and three is the average," Burgess says. "We make as much noise as possible and try to be as entertaining as possible." Burgess learned the art from local auctioneers Stan Dupree, Ron Anderson, Tom Caldwell, Larry Helms and Wayne Liska. He has conducted a variety of charity auctions for local groups including the Oregon Hunters Association, Ducks Unlimited, Sacred Heart School, Grace Christian School, Ashland Community Hospital and the Raider Athletic Association. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA