ARod artifacts staying put...

[RLA68]

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASAp...=.jsp&c_id=nyy
by Bryan Hoch, MLB.com

NEW YORK -- When Alex Rodriguez made three trips around the bases on Tuesday night, he may have had any number of thoughts racing through his mind.
Autographed sports memorabilia was almost certainly not one of them.

But that didn't stop others, who hold various licensing agreements with A-Rod, to explore the opportunities of commemorative items related to Rodriguez's three-homer, 10-RBI extravaganza against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim this week.

It became a problem on Friday, when Rodriguez became the talk of sports radio in New York.

While all of the game-used items from the game resided safely in Rodriguez's locker, A-Rod Authenticated -- a division of a company Rodriguez had licensed memorabilia with -- planned to market a limited edition of 113 commemorative autographed balls for $400 each.

Rodriguez was surprised to hear of the plans, which were first reported in Friday's New York Daily News. The Yankees third baseman said he never consented to any such promotion and, through his attorney, has now terminated his agreement with A-Rod Authenticated.

"From this point forward, there is no A-Rod Authenticated," Rodriguez said. "Obviously, some things were done without my consent, and I was very upset about that. I've taken action immediately."

After the third of Rodriguez's home runs on Tuesday, a call was placed to the Yankees clubhouse by a different memorabilia company looking for Rodriguez's jersey, bat, cap and other items related to the game.

Rodriguez flatly refused, saying Friday that the items from that game will "hopefully" end up in the hands of his 5-month-old daughter, Natasha, and not a collector.

"They're mine, and they're not going anywhere," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said that in the past, he had donated most of the proceeds from memorabilia contracts to charities and endeavors such as the Alex Rodriguez Learning Center -- a $1 million-plus facility slated for a 2007 opening -- in the Coconut Grove area of Miami.

"We've done some things from the charity point of view," Rodriguez said. "But to me, the most important thing is that something was done without my consent. It's not the right thing to do."

Rodriguez said he had signed "zero" memorabilia related to Tuesday's game, and had no immediate plans to. A-Rod said it is "very rare" for him to sign bulk autographs during the regular season anyway, as that business is usually taken care of during the winter or Spring Training.

"I didn't sign anything," Rodriguez said. "I haven't even been approached about signing anything."

It is possible that existing Rodriguez autographed baseballs were to be stamped with an inscription of Tuesday's date and Rodriguez's statistic line from the game. Those plans were crushed, for all intents and purposes, by A-Rod's actions Friday.

"That night, I want to remember forever," Rodriguez said. "It's a very special night. Certainly not from capitalizing [on it]. That's not who I am, that's ridiculous. ... That was one of the most special nights of my career. The last thing I wanted to do was sign memorabilia."

[RLA68]

I am glad that ARod is not getting involved with a cheap stunt memorabilla like others such as Canseco.

It sickens me how much of a memorabilla age we live in. I like my Yankee stuff but it is just insane how QVC and Home Shopping Network peddle almost everything. Not to mention EBay.