Mo'ne Davis merchandise means money -- and outrage

Mo'ne Davis merchandise means money -- and outrage

Mo'ne Davis has emerged as a star at the Little League World Series, 

which has made her autograph and other merchandise in high demand.

People are lining up for autographs from Mo'ne Davis, the 13-year-old pitching sensation from Philadelphia, and some of them are cashing in.

A baseball advertised as being autographed by Mo'ne – who became the first girl to pitch a shutout at the Little League World Series and is on the cover of this week's of Sports Illustrated – turned up for sale on eBay. An auction had driven the price up to $500 on Wednesday.

About 40 other items featuring Mo'ne, many alleged to be autographed by her, also were for sale on the website.

Mo'ne Davis inspires hope for baseball change

"I think it's ridiculous. That's absurd,'' said Steve Keener, CEO of Little League, Inc., which hosts the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. "(But) I don't know how you would ever control it.

"We supervise the teams while they're here, but we're not with them every minute. So if any player in the Little League World Series signs a baseball for somebody, we have no idea what they're going to do with that baseball after they get it. In some respects, it shows you why a lot of Major League Baseball players are reluctant to sign autographs anymore.''

Brandon Steiner, owner of Steiner Sports, a leading sports memorabilia company in New York, said he would pay Mo'ne at least $25,000 to autograph between 500 to 1,000 items and estimated she could make up to $100,000 on the deal. But Steiner said he wouldn't make the offer because it could jeopardize Mo'ne's eligibility to play college athletics.

A federal judge last month ruled that the NCAA unfairly restricts college athletes from EARNING MONEY based on their names and likeness – but the NCAA is appealing the decision and it's unclear how much athletes may be able to earn in the future and retain their eligility.

Mo'ne has said she wants to play college basketball, preferably at powerhouse Connecticut.

"I wouldn't want to get in the way of that, those being the rules,'' Steiner said. "But would I love to call her up and say, 'Let's go sign 1,000 baseballs right now, being that I love what you've accomplished and what you've done?' A hundred percent.''

"I'd get my butt up to Williamsport and get something worked out with her parents and her and get some good product online.''

EASY TO SELL

The tournament has produced stars in the past – such as Sean Burroughs, the power-hitting son of Jeff Burroughs, in 1993, and Danny Almonte, the star pitcher from New York who pitched a perfect game in 2001 before it was discovered he had lied about his age and was too old to be eligible for the tournament.

But that was before the internet gave dealers a quick way to get memorabilia on the market.

"This is a whole new thing,'' said Nick Lantz, manager at Legends of the Field, a sports memorabilia company based in Wisconsin. "You can take a picture on your phone (of an autographed item) and have it loaded on eBay in 30 seconds. … You could never do that in the past.

"But it's too bad that somebody's taking something from a 13-year-old and selling it.''

Lantz warned that autographed items often are forgeries. But a parent with a player on Philadelphia's team said it was clear Mo'ne had signed the ball.

Ebay did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Sean Bandura, who has a son on Philadelphia's team, said Mo'ne and the other players have been signing plenty of autographs.

"That's all they do, all of the players,'' Bandura said. "But it's gotten to the point now where Mo'ne has to be carted everywhere. They put her in the golf cart and take her to the field. They take her in the golf cart from the field to the batting cage and back to the dorms because she can't go anywhere without getting completely mobbed.''

Mo'ne Davis has the support of fans from Philadelphia -- as well as those seeking her autograph..(Photo: Gene J. Puskar, AP)

TOUGH TO STOP

Keener said Little League does not hold any formal autograph signings.

"We go to great lengths to try to minimize the amount of access to the kids while they're here,'' he said. "It's very difficult. They're kids, 12 and 13 years old, and they want to be kids. And they want to be out having fun that all the other kids are having and there are a lot of people around.

"We really do our best to protect them as much as we can. But at the same time, it's very much a Little League atmosphere at the Little League World Series, where a lot of people have access to the teams. They walk right through the crowds to get to their games and to get to their practices and that kind of stuff.''

Autograph seekers aren't the only ones capitalizing on Mo'ne's celebrity. Two companies advertised Mo'ne jerseys on the Facebook page run by the Little League association in Philadelphia. Ellen Siegel, one of the league founders, promptly took down the Facebook posts.

"They're selling unauthorized shirts everywhere,'' Siegel said. "No one has the authority to do that.

"There's a lot going on here. I don't know how to deal with it. It's really upsetting.''

But Davis, who struck out six in a loss Wednesday night, seems unbothered by the attention — or when she heard about the autographed ball, with the eBay auction just underway.

"I said 'Mo'ne, they have a Mo'ne Davis-autographed baseball on eBay for $199.' She said, 'I'm going to get that,' " Bandura recalled. "It doesn't faze her at all. She likes it. But she could do without it and she'd be the same. She's a different kid.''

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