x
Breaking News
More () »

Impressive Pete Rose Memorabilia Collection in Carbon County

LEHIGHTON, Pa. — A man from Carbon County has a basement that looks like something you would see at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. But this collectio...

LEHIGHTON, Pa. -- A man from Carbon County has a basement that looks like something you would see at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

But this collection of thousands of items is dedicated to one of the best players in baseball history who's not enshrined in Cooperstown.

"I started collecting Pete Rose memorabilia in the early 1980s when he was playing for the Philadelphia Phillies. They won the World Series in 1980 and at that time, nobody brought the intensity to the game of baseball like Pete Rose did," said Tim Sharrow.

Sharrow's home near Lehighton has a basement with more than 5,000 items of Pete Rose memorabilia on display.

"He just never gave up at any time. Any play that he was involved with, he was giving 110 percent on every play that he could."

Sharrow's admiration for the all-time hit king, also known as "Charlie Hustle" was recently featured in a Sports Illustrated For Kids article by SI Kids reporter Anna Laible, who is also from the Lehighton area.

In this impressive man cave, you can find everything from bats and balls signed by Rose to autographed pictures, magazine covers, cigarette packaging, and even Pete Rose's high school yearbook. Chances are if Pete Rose was on it, Sharrow, a teacher in the Lehighton Area School District, has it.

"Every time I come down here, I always see something new. It's really cool to see all the Pete Rose stuff," said Tim's son Tate Sharrow.

"The biggest thing I found with my collecting is the friendships I'm making with other people that share the same passion that I have. Now we can talk to each other about it and help each other out, find different things that I don't have or that one of my friends might not have, and then we try to hook each other up with getting different items," Sharrow said.

Despite Pete Rose having the most hits in Major League Baseball history, he is not in the Hall of Fame. He was kicked out for betting on the game.

"Pete was the greatest hitter of all time. He played the game with so much intensity that it was very seldom matched by any player. Worst case scenario, they put an asterisk by his name, but there's no doubt Pete belongs in the Hall of Fame," Sharrow said.

Before You Leave, Check This Out