updated 9:22 p.m. ET July 20, 2007

NEW YORK - A sports memorabilia company sued Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz for $1 million Friday, claiming he breached a contract by failing to autograph a required number of items and appear at “meet-and-greet” events.

Steiner Sports Marketing Inc. of New Rochelle, N.Y., said the company signed Ortiz to a contract to autograph 13,000 items, appear at public signing events, and to do these things exclusively for Steiner until Jan. 31, 2008.

“Ortiz has constantly remained substantially below the amount of memorabilia items required to be signed under the agreement,” according to the lawsuit filed in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court.

Steiner claims that Ortiz skipped several scheduled public appearances, and when he did show up, he didn’t autograph the minimum amount of memorabilia required by the contract.

Ortiz also violated the exclusivity clause of their agreement by providing at least four other companies with autographed memorabilia and game-used items, diluting the value of items provided to Steiner, the suit claims.

The lawsuit asks for $1 million plus interest and an accounting of Ortiz’ dealings with memorabilia companies in which he received money for autographs and used items.

Ortiz’ agent, SFX Baseball Group LLC, did not immediately return a call for comment.

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