Andy Warhol 1985 Topps Pete Rose Print up for auction

When Andy Warhol painted his Pete Rose Serial in 1985 he also produced a set of 50 lavender prints. As part of this process an additional 30 test prints were created. One of those test prints is currently up for auction.

Pete Rose (1985) test print #6/30

According to Artnet the test print is from the Cincinnati Art Museum, which is where the Warhol Pete Rose original resides. Artnet lists the estimate for the work at $15,000 - $20,000. This may seem high however less than a year ago the work was listed as $25,000 - $30,000. By those numbers the low estimate has dropped by 40% in 8 months.

The auction for this unique piece of memorabilia ends on January 29 2019.

For more information on the primary Warhol Pete Rose portrait click here.
For an index of the Lavender and Test Print variations click here.


Sources and Links
Andy Warhol Pete Rose Index
Artnet

Andy Warhol Pete Rose II (1985) Variations

This is an index of information on the variations of Andy Warhol's 1985 painting Pete Rose II, Also referred to as the lavender Pete Rose.

 

Pete Rose II (1985) Andy Warhol

Lavender
There were originally 50 lavender Pete Rose prints

#23/50 Personal Collection
#30/50 Lelands (2018 08 17 $18,830.40)
#40/50 Cowans (2017 10 27 $13,200.00)
#??/50 National Portrait Gallery
#??/50 the Butler institute of American Art 
#??/50 Revolver Gallery

Test Prints
#6/50 Artnet/ Cincinnati Art Museum (2019 01 29)


Sources Links
Andy Warhol Pete Rose Index
Revolver Gallery 
Antiques Roadshow

National Portrait Gallery
the Butler institute of American Art 

Pete Rose (1985) Andy Warhol: The Original Gordon Baer Photograph

One of the Pop Art techniques that Andy Warhol pioneered was the appropriation of photographs. He starting using the PhotoSilkscreen process in 1962 - this allowed him to 1) enlarge a photograph and 2) project the image onto a canvas multiple times. His first use of this method can be seen in the painting Baseball.

Andy would use the PhotoSilkscreen once again when he produced his portrait of Pete Rose in 1985.

Originally it was hoped that Pete Rose would visit Andy Warhol[s studio for his portrait, alas the busy schedules of the two men made coordinating the sitting impossible.

Warhol ended up doing the Rose portrait based off of photographs, The principal photograph used was one by Cincinnati based photographer Gordon Baer

Pete Rose: Gordon Baer Photo (left) and Andy Warhol Portrait Detail (right)

This is the only copy of the Baer photo that I could get. I assume the one that Warhol used was in color, however most of Gordon Baer's photography was in B&W.

Baseball historians have noted two interesting issues with the Warhol painting. In 1985 Pete Rose used a Black Mizuno brand bat, in the Warhol painting the bat has a clear stain. Notice that the bat in the Baer photograph also has a natural stain.

The second complaint is that the switch-hitting Rose was portrayed batting right-handed by Andy Warhol. "Only" 1171 of Pete Rose's 4256 career hits (28%) came from the right hand side. By 1985 the percentage of Rose's RH hits dropped below 16% (17/107). Once again since Andy was reproducing a photo with Rose batting right-handed he ended up with a RH painting.

Pete Rose on Hitting
During the 1985 season there was a flurry of activity around Pete Rose's pursuit of Ty Cobb's hit record. One of these projects was "Pete Rose on Hitting: How to Hit Better than Anybody" which Pete co-wrote with Peter Golenbock. The photography for the book was done by Gordon Baer and includes the picture that Andy Warhol used for the Rose portrait.

Unfortunately this picture in "Pete Rose on Hitting" brings up a third problem with Warhol's portrait:

Pete Rose on Hitting: How to Hit Better than Anybody

Yes the photo used by Andy is a associated with Pete Rose's entry dedicated to bunting.

Gordon Baer
Gordon Baer's work dates back to the 1960s including a stint as a military photographer in Korea. During the 1980s his NYC exhibition titled "The Battle Comes Home" featured photographs of Viet Nam veterans - many of whom likely suffered from the then unnamed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). You can read about his a 2012 retrospective of Baer's work here.

Sources and Links
Andy Warhol Pete Rose Index
Andy Warhol Index
Pete Rose IndexCincinnati Art Museum
Pete Rose on Hitting - Peter Golenbock Pete Rose
AEQAI - A Look Back at a Life in Pictures: Photographs by Gordon Baer 2012 OCT 12
Capturing the Essence City Beat - Jane Durrell
Warhol's Baseball Art is a Hit at CAM City Beat - Steve Rosen 2015 APR 7
Baseball-ref

Pete Rose (1985) Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol’s Pete Rose portrait was the idea of Cincinnati based art collector Carl Solway. Solway got into fine art collecting almost by accident. He attended University of Pennsylvania where he met his first wife who was working at the Philadelphia Art Museum. This connection led Solway to a return to his native Cincinnati and a career as an art dealer.

Pete Rose

In 1985 Carl Solway was driving home listening to a Reds game on the radio when broadcaster and former player Joe Nuxhall mentioned that Pete Rose was expected to break Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record later that year. This gave Solway an idea

“It would be so cool if the art community could do something about that, instead of just the jocks and the sports people” 

He discussed the idea with the Cincinnati Art Museum and Andy Warhol’s agent. Everyone agreed to the deal and a price of $100,000 was set for the commission. However Andy Warhol had one question:

“Who is Pete Rose”

Eventually Andy Warhol did find out who Pete Rose was and created this really fun portrait.

Pete Rose (1985)

The portrait is the property of the Cincinnati Art Museum where it hangs whenever it is not on loan. It measures approximately 9x7' with each of the individual panels 54x44"

This is the last of Andy Warhol’s three major baseball related paintings and features several of his signature techniques:

1. It is of course a silkscreen
2. It is bright and colorful – lets face it if your subject is Pete Rose you better be colorful
3. Seriagraph (Repetition)
4. It appropriates a Photograph. This photograph is by Gordon Baer and appeared in "Pete Rose on Hitting"
5. It appropriates a familiar artifact of pop culture, in this case the design of a 1985 Baseball Card

It is interesting to compare and contrast Pete Rose with Baseball (1962). While the paintings appear very different, there are many stylistic gestures that remain. The biggest difference is Black & White vs Color. For similarities we have Two Silkscreens, Two Photographs used for Appropriation, and Two Seriagraphs.

Of course the serigraph for Rose is totally different than Baseball/Maris. Limiting Rose to Four large images rather than three dozen smaller ones makes the subject instantly recognizable, whereas in Baseball we are not even sure that the picture is of Roger Maris.

 “Pete Rose” made it’s debut at the Cincinnati Art Museum on September 10 1985, in a case of remarkably good timing this was just a day prior to the night that Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb’s record.

For more detailed  information check out the various links below for interesting stories regarding 

Andy Warhol’s “Pete Rose” (unlinked titles are columns that I hope to cover in the future)

 

SABR Presentation: The Andy Warhol Triple Play (the Rose portion starts at 5:00)
The related slides can be downloaded here. 
Carl Solway
Donahue (1985 SEP 12) 
1985 Topps
Golden Ratio
Reds @ Mets 1985 JUL 22-24 (The portrait sitting that never happened / Phyllis George Memorial)
Gordon Baer  (Pete Rose Batting RH & holding a white bat)
Switch Hitting
Pete Rose II (Lavender Single)
Pete Rose and Warhol after 1985

Trading Cards and Art
Jean-Michel Basquiat (Nick SABR BB Card Blog)
Don Celender
Dick Perez
Gerry Dvorak
Vernon Wells Sr
Bill Forsyth
Peter Max

Sources and Links
Andy Warhol Index
Pete Rose Index
Carl Solway
Solway Gallery
Cincinnati Art Museum
CityBeat 2010 May 19 “A Life in Artworks” - Steven Rosen
CityBeat 2010 Aug 24 “Warhol’s Pete Rose Portrait Turns 25” - Steven Rosen
City Beat 2015 Apr 7 "Warhol's Baseball Art is a Hit at CAM" - Steve Rosen
Sports Illustrated 1985 Aug 19 “On Deck For The Big Knock” Rick Reilly

New York Times 1985 Jul 14 “Rose Still Hustling, Still Hitting at 44” Ira Berkow

Andy Warhol Diaries (Pat Hackett) 
Pete Rose on HItting (Golenbock/Rose)

Vittles: Ballpark Restaurant Bel Air MD

For over two decades me and a few college buddies have taken part of an annual bit of decadence centered around NCAA March Madness. In recent years the host -hood has been Bel Air Maryland, A routine stop on that tour is breakfast at the Ballpark Restaurant.

It is a bit of a sports memorabilia museum with a heavy dose of Orioles, Ravens and Colts, but encompassing many other teams and legends.

This year we were seated at a table that had the 1985 Topps Set varnished to the top.

Pretty cool idea for a junk wax era set. It isn't just throw away players, The Bullseye of the table is Mike Schmidt (under the Jelly Rack, you can see the Phillies logo jutting out) Garry Maddox and be seen pretty clearly just below center. I was seated between Reggie Jackson (then w/ the Angels) and Dennis Eckersley (Cubs). 

In fact the set was so cool that #WalletCard Chase Utley decide to hang out with the rest o the cards. 

He is seated next to The Phillies current pitching coach Bob McClure. Larry Bowa (Bottom left - Cubs) Burt Hooton, Goman Thomas (Mariners),  Lou Whitaker (Bottom Right), John Tudor (Pirates Top) Phil Garner (Astros) can all be spotted.

In general the kitsch of the restaurant doesn't extend to the names of the menu selections, however they did have a special noted as the "Boog Powell Breakfast". This was ordered by a member of our party and is a pretty good deal - note that in addition to whichever version of SOS you choose you also get an additional side of breakfast meat. Definitely a meal worthy of it's namesake.

The Aftermath. Note I am the one that didn't finish the toast crusts. Boog Powell snubbed his hash browns. That clean plate belongs to easily the thinnest member of our party.

Links
For More Vittles click Here

Reading the Competition: Jerry Koosman 1985 Topps #15

With the Mets in town this weekend (and then some) we are going to turn our RTC segment to a Mets Icon who happened to finish his career with the Phillies

Jerry Koosman was the Left-Handed Anchor for the 1969 Miracle Mets rotation. I limit Koosman to Left-Handed Anchor, because the team had it’s ace in future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver. If you look at the numbers, Koosman was not far behind Tom Terrific. Seaver had a significantly better record (25-7 vs 17-9) but the remaining numbers were close – Pairs with Seaver listed first: 2.21/2.28 ERA, 273/241 IP, 208/180Ks, 165/160 ERA+. For you hip SABR kids, Koosman actually had a better FIP ERA then Seaver with Koosman coming in at 2.67 while Seaver had a much higher 3.11.

1985 Topps #15 Jerry Koosman

Koosman picked up 2 of the Mets 4 Wins during the 69 series including a complete game victory in game 5. He spent 12 seasons with the Mets including a return to the World Series as a member of the 1973 squad. He made 2 all-star squads during his Mets tenure and in 1968 he finished a close 2nd to Johnny Bench for the Rookie of the Year voting. In 1968 Koosman was 19-12 with a 2.08 ERA. Bench posted 15 homers, 82 RBI with a .275 while catching for the Reds. Koosman’s 6.0 WAR was a point higher than Bench. Bench took the award by a point.

A trade prior to the 1979 Season brought Jerry Koosman back to his native Minnesota where he prospered once again. Koosman won 20 games and finished 2nd behind Dennis Eckersley in Pitching WAR, both hurlers lost out in the Cy Young voting to Mike Flanagan who pitched for the AL Champion Orioles. After a couple of seasons in Minnesota and Chicago Koosman was traded to the Phillies

Phillies
Early in 1984 the Phillies acquired Jerry Koosman from the White Sox in a deal that completed the trade of relief pitcher Ron Reed to Chicago. Most folks probably don’t remember Koosman’s stint with the Phils, it came on the heels of the 1983 NL Championship. I am sure that the team thought that the then 41 year old southpaw would fit right in with the Wheeze kids. Koosman had a productive 1984 posting a 14-15 record with a 3.25 ERA. it was his last significant contribution to MLB Baseball, Koosman returned to the Phillies in 1985 but struggled with injuries pitching his final game on August 21.

Koosman finished his career with 222 Wins (73rd all time) and 2556 strikeouts (28th). The Baseball-ref EloRater system currently ranks Koosman 66th all-time among pitchers - that puts him right between two Hall of Famers Jim Bunning and Bob Lemon. 

Retirement
In 2009 Koosman was sent to prison on Tax Evasion charges. According to the IRS, During a 3 year period from 2002-2004 Koosman made over $750,000 and failed to pay as much as $80,000 of that in taxes. The bulk of his earnings were from stock sales totaling over a half million dollars. Koosman’s MLB pension for the period averaged over $40,000 per year.

Sources
New York Daily News
New York Post
Baseball-ref
SABR
hardball times

2013 Topps Archives #101 Andrew McCutchen

Our playoff postings continue today with the Pirates exciting young Centerfielder Andrew McCutchen.

2013 Topps Archives #101 Andrew McCutchen (1985 Topps)

I will be rooting for the cross-state Pirates in tonight's elimination game. Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole are just 2 examples of the clubs young talent that I would like to see under the bright lights of the NLCS.

2013 PostSeason Pirates
Pedro Alvarez
Gerrit Cole

2013 PostSeason Cardinals
Lancy Lynn
Michael Wacha

1983 NL Champions: Bo Diaz 1985 Topps #737

Today we continue our 1983 Wheeze Kids series by taking a look at the man behind the plate - Bo Diaz  

1985 Topps #737 Bo Diaz

Bo Diaz hit .236 during the Phillies 1983 season but he did have some big games including one on April 13 1983. The Phillies were down 3 runs to the Mets with 2 outs in the 9th inning. This is the moment Diaz picked to hit an Ultimate Grand Slam - A game ending slam down 3 runs. Another highlight for Diaz was catching Steve Carlton's 300th win on September 23rd.
 
During the '83 World Series, Diaz was one of the few offensive bright spots for the Phillies, He batted .333 collecting 5 hits in 15 ABs.

Notice at the top of this posting I did not say that "man behind the DISH" - This is because, sadly, Bo Diaz died at age 37 while installing a satellite dish in his native Venezuela.

1985 Topps

Catchers are great for baseball cards.  All the gear makes for photos that are more than just headshots, even when your show that guy just standing there.  Bo Diaz is shown here carrying his mask and looks to be removing his glove perhaps he is getting ready to talk to Lefty or signal the defense.

I like the photo, dislike the design. 1985 Topps falls into the Phillies purple card genre.  That is Topps designated oddball color for the team for a couple of sets in the 1980s (1985, 1988, 1989). Maybe it's the purple or perhaps it is the ubiquity of the three sets - regardless, I have never been a fan of anf them.
1983 NL Champions Series
Darren Daulton
Bo Diaz 
John Denny
Garry Maddox
Tony Perez

Steve Carlton Passes Walter Johnson

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
wikipedia.org

1983 NL Champions: Ivan DeJesus 1985 Topps #791

Today we have the other half of the trade referred to in Tuesday's Ryne Sandberg posting.   

1985 Topps #791 Ivan DeJesus

It would be more proper to state that Ivan DeJesus was acquired for Larry Bowa and Ryne Sandberg was a throw in, regardless the two men were involved in the same trade.

As we noted previously, the deal is a frequently mentioned as a Phillies trade blunder. In defense of DeJesus and the Phillies side it is worth mentioning that the 1983 Phillies won the NL Pennant.  Ryne Sandberg may have hit 280 homers for the Cubs, but none of those teams went to the World Series.

The Phillies were the 3rd of seven clubs DeJesus played for in his 15 year career. Steady best describes his 3 seasons with the Phillies. In 1983 he batted .254 while playing 158 games as the teams starting shortstop. DeJesus also started all 9 games of the Phillies 83 post season.  

Ivan De Jesus had done some coaching but appears to currently out of baseball.  His son Ivan De Jesus Jr has had a couple of Major league call ups. He is currently in the Pirates organization as a second baseman with the Indianapolis Indians (batting .328 in 86 games)  

1983 NL Champions Series
Darren Daulton
Ivan DeJesus
John Denny
Garry Maddox
Tony Perez


Steve Carlton Passes Walter Johnson

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
wikipedia.com
Indianapolis Indians Official site