[Exhibitman]

I don't think the people who are put off by the situation with Jeter are saying that they should get something for nothing or that athletes owe them something for free. I think their comments reflect a growing frustration with the attitude that is prevalent in our culture, which is take all you can grab in every context at all times, give nothing back, and damn everyone else. I don't think it is wrong for Jeter (or anyone else) to charge for autographs at a show, through mail order, etc.--it is a service rendered and if it is overpriced or unwanted, don't buy it--but I do think it is wrong when the prevalent view among athletes becomes that an unpaid autograph is something to be frowned upon, wheither you call it a freebie, brand dilution, leakage, etc. It is called "public relations" and at the right time and place is part of being in the entertainment industry. As a public person/celebrity who earns millions trading on the goodwill of the public as a product endorser, one of the things Jeter accepts as part of the deal is the duty [yes, it is a duty] to do right by the people who support him. I find it appalling when a ballplayer refuses to sign for a fan (unless the situation is very, very inappropriate, like in a bathroom), especially when the justification is that the fan might sell the item. If an athlete makes millions playing baseball and endorsing products that he expects kids to purchase based on his endorsements, guess what, the athletes is a role model and with that privilege comes responsibility. One of the reasons I have gone from a rabid fan who had season tickets to a person who rarely watches the game and never attends is the attitude towards the fans exhibited by players and management. Not wanting to be taken advantage of goes both ways.

Some athletes and celebrities get it. Around 1978 I was at brunch in Woodland Hills with my family and Steve Garvey and his family were in the restaurant too. At that time Garvey was the golden boy in LA; MVP/All Star, pennant winning teams, etc. A line of kids stacked up at his table. He said hello to each kid who had the nerve to approach him and signed for each one of them when he could easily have said no. I hated the Dodgers at the time (Yankees fan) and wasn't even interested in meeting him but I appreciated the effort he made. Manny Pacquiao, who has way more of a worldwide fan base than Jeter or any other US baseball player, is a willing and gracious signer. Muhammad Ali, certainly a bigger celebrity than any ballplayer, signed willingly and happily for fans before he became too ill to accommodate publicly. Even celebs are better at it than most ballplayers. I ran into Sylvester Stallone a few times around LA and every time he was courteous and signed for the fans who approached him. Anyone recall seeing George Clooney at the Oscars a few years ago cross Hollywood Blvd. to sign autographs for fans behind the barricades?

Don't get me wrong; I don't expect our heroes to be saints (unless they are saints, of course). There have always been great signers and bad signers; goes with personality. But don't tell me that taking two seconds to sign an autograph for a fan isn't part of the business. Jeter or anyone else isn't too big and too important to do the right thing, especially when they put themselves out there as role models and endorsers and are enriched by our good will. Babe Ruth is beloved not just because he was a great player but because of the way he treated his fans. In The Glory of Their Times Jimmy Austin described seeing Ruth sign for fans for hours on end, for nothing. My father still fondly recalls Babe Ruth nodding hello to him on Park Avenue in NYC when he was a kid.