$125 An Autograph?

I was rather disappointed to find out over the weekend that Jacoby Ellsbury had an autograph signing at a couple of locations in Massachusetts last week, and that the fans who showed up had to pay $125 a pop to get a picture or baseball autographed by the newest Red Sox star.

I've never paid for anyone's autograph, and I never will. But I am not against the concept. If people want to shell out good money to get them, so be it. And I'm not against players doing it, especially those old time players who need the money.

And Jacoby is by far not the only young player who has done something like this. He is making the bare mininum right now, as he is a rookie, which is still some pretty good money. If he was doing this for a charity (as what Curt Schilling does for ALS and Shade), it would be rather commendable.

But the fact that so much is being charged for his autograph (and it was $150 for him to sign a jersey or a bat; don't ask me why it's $25 more for those items), but it really sounds like the public is being gouged here. But once again, if people are willing to pay that much, no laws are being broken. I just will never take part in it.

Here's more from the Extra Bases blog:
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2007/12/sign_of_the_tim.html

I was also not terribly happy to hear that Ellsbury signed on with Scott Boras as his new agent. (Is that the connection in all of this?) Everyone knows about his rep. Fortunately, the Red Sox have control over Ellsbury for the next six years (assuming they don't trade him), so they don't have to worry about Boras for a while yet.