Signs of the times?
Warren Buffett was the subject of a minor league promotion. (AP photo)
Is this yet another sign of the times?
Earlier this week, billionaire Warren Buffett was the subject of the ultimate in baseball honors — his own bobblehead giveaway.
The first 1,000 fans who attended an Omaha Royals game on Monday received a miniature likeness of the man (worth north of $60 billion these days) throwing out a first pitch at a past Kansas City Royals game.
Believe it or not, it’s not the team’s first “Buffett bobbler.”
Perhaps this is a glimpse at the future of sports — where we root for the owners and the wealthy — not the rich (players), but the genuinely wealthy. (Nod to Chris Rock there.)
Eh … perhaps not.
Then again, the dolls have sold for as much as $71 on eBay — and some dealers as asking as much as $199.99.
You decide.
Earlier this week, Major League Baseball nixed one financial inclusion in a popular forthcoming baseball set — a Bernie Madoff card that had been planned for 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter as part of the “World’s biggest hoaxes, hoodwinks and bamboozles” insert set.
The card’s inclusion had drawn some national attention from Fortune and The Wall Street Journal among others, but (perhaps wisely) it’s been sent to the bench.
After all, there’s enough bad financial news in the world these days as it is. Who needs it in a pack of cards?
Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.
