Record mogul J-Roll, part of the team to Bieb

January 26, 2011|By MARCUS HAYES, hayesm@phillynews.com
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  • Jimmy Rollins, with attorney Christopher Cabott (left) at Temple: 'I'm on the other side, now. You learn how an owner thinks.'
  • Jimmy Rollins, with attorney Christopher Cabott (left) at Temple: 'I'm on the other side, now. You learn how an owner thinks.'
  • Jimmy Rollins on his day job.

JIMMY ROLLINS, record mogul?

Oh yeah, baby.

Rollins flashed in an MC Hammer video at age 13. He once tried to change his nickname, from J-Roll to J-Smooth. He carried sunglass frames with six different-color lenses. He decorated his bedroom walls in bamboo and jungle prints.

A 5-8 Mighty Mouse, Rollins switched from No. 6 to No. 11 because, he said, 11 makes him look taller. He famously issued a treatise on afro-puffs vs. braids, before nature denied him either option. He posed for a Playboy fashion shoot with his wife, Johari Smith.

With his 2008 World Series check, he bought himself a Bentley Brooklands - a $350,000 coupe equipped with heated seats that have a massage function.

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And those are just the back seats. Imagine what the front seats can do.

From his monogrammed cleats to his personalized glove, Rollins has always been a showman. Now, he's part of the hottest act in show business.

Rollins owns 5 percent of the publishing rights to Justin Bieber's "Eenie Meenie," a hit duet with Jamaican chubster Sean Kingston. The song appears on Bieber's platinum album, "My World 2.0."

Consider it another success for a man unashamed to celebrate successes.

Rollins' style always has substance: four consecutive National League East titles, three trips to the All-Star Game, three Gold Gloves, an MVP award in 2007 and a World Series ring in 2008.

Yesterday morning, after addressing about 150 adoring students at Temple's Fox School of Business, Rollins, CEO of the Jimmy Rollins Entertainment Group, received his platinum records that marked 1 million units sold.

Rollins explained his business and where he hopes to take it. Mainly, it was a recitation of what Rollins learned in his baseball career: Hard work equals great results, but nothing is promised.

"It can become a headache, dealing with attitudes," Rollins told the Daily News yesterday, after the seminar. "It's like, 'I'm giving you the opportunity . . . but I owe you?' You get tired of dealing with divas."

Yes, he sounds like a front-office suit talking about a petulant player. He has learned to appreciate what it is like to be Phillies president David Montgomery.

"Yeah, I'm on the other side, now," Rollins said. "You learn how an owner thinks."

A modest owner, anyway.

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