Pete Rose Rookie Card Prices Soar Following MLB Announcement
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred shocked the sports world on May 13, 2025, with his announcement that several players, most notably Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, had been removed from baseball's permanently ineligible list. Despite the assumptions of many fans, the move did not grant Rose and Jackson an automatic pass to Cooperstown. However, it did make the Hall of Fame at least a possibility.
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Ultimately, it will be Rose's Hall of Fame status, which we may know as early as December 2027, that will produce the biggest bump in his card values. However, one month after Manfred's historic announcement, Rose's cards have definitely jumped quite a bit.
Based on month-over-month sales data from the Hobby tracking site Card Ladder, Charlie Hustle's rookie card has been particularly impacted.
1963 Topps Pete Rose RC #537
- PSA 8: Up 41%
- PSA 7: Up 27%
- PSA 6: Up 33%
- PSA 5: Up 16%
- PSA 4: Up 45%
- PSA 3: Down 18%
- PSA 2: Up 52%
- PSA 1: N/A
As the data show, the Manfred announcement definitely delivered a jolt to the Hit King's rookie card as the "Bad Blood" between "The Anti-Hero" and MLB went from "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" to somewhere between "Begin Again" and "I Want You Back." Whether the prices "Stay Beautiful" or "Jump and Fall" is bound to generate its share of "Would've, Could've, Should've" among collectors, but as the great philosopher Taylor Swift once said, "So It Goes..."
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Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.