How sad is this..

[Swoboda4]

Nothing against the seller. But what knid of financial difficulty would Barfield have to have to decide he has to part with this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1986-Jesse-Barfield-Rawlings-Gold-Glove-Award-WOW_W0QQitemZ320177927966QQihZ011QQcategoryZ50126QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[metsbats]

Re: How sad is this..

B&E seem to get a lot of memoribilia directly from players or contacts close to players which is a good thing. Couple of years back they had Darryl Strawberry's 1988 Silver Slugger award on ebay.

-David

[tinkerbell262 @ verizon.net]

Re: How sad is this..

maybe barfield should get together with oj and discuss other options.

[godwulf]

Re: How sad is this..

I think most of us like to picture all the retired Major Leaguers - all the "nice" ones, anyway - living in big houses with well-appointed trophy rooms, passing all of their awards and game-related memorabilia down to their loving offspring...but the reality, in many cases, is no doubt very different.

Even many of the ones who aren't necessarily in danger of homelessness may simply lose interest in keeping items like this, after so long. As difficult as it may be for a collector to understand or identify with, some players, I'm sure, just get to a place in their lives when souvenirs of their Baseball careers - even really awesome souvenirs like a Gold Glove Award - are largely just something taking up space in a box in the garage.

Several years ago, I bought R.J. Reynolds' high school letter jacket, and one of his game-worn batting helmets, from a Seller who had quite a few things that obviously came from the player's own collection. He mentioned to me that he'd recently sold Reynolds' Gold Glove Award - which must have been the Japanese version, since R.J. never won a MLB GG, to my knowledge - which I was sorry to have missed out on.

[both-teams-played-hard]

Re: How sad is this..

This link is from the original game used forum:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/383222/message/1128732816/

Barfield was selling bats on eBay. Forum members questioned authenticity.

[Swoboda4]

Re: How sad is this..

Maybe we care more about this game than most of the people in it. I mean I can answer my own question by simply looking at Dykstra's 86 World Series jersey on my wall and honestly say it doesn't belong there. But Lenny's the guy who went around and peddled it off to a card show promoter who after 20 yrs sold it to me. Lenny just lived in the moment and there was no nastalgia to it for him at all. Maybe that's what made him successfull,no ghosts to live up to. No heros from childhood to measure against. Future HOF's (Carlton,Ryan,Seaver) were just old guys who thought they still threw hard."I'm going to stick 'em" he would say. When told by a team mate sitting next to him in the dugout,"but that's Carlton",he would be quiet for three seconds stare out at the mound and then reply,"...I'm going to stick 'em".


There are players who appreciate how special it is that they're in the Major leagues(as evident by Kylehess10's interview with Marquis Grissom). I also know that Senator's Brian Schneider is a collector. With collecting comes an inherent respect for the game. I not talking about a player who now knows things are worth something and amasses things and sells it but quite the opposite. Does anyone else know of a player who we wouldn't think of as a collector and is?

[skyking26]

Re: How sad is this..

Good points here, mirrors some of my own experiences. I collect different players: Kingman, McGwire, Thome. Thome will likely bleed baseball til the day he dies. He comes from a BB family and it pretty much is his world. I have known Kingman since 92, and BB is in the distant past. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and a variety of other things and really does not discuss baseball to any length when I see him, but rather seems uncomfortable when it is brought up. Discuss anything else and it is a different story. McGwire disappeared as soon as he retired and caught the golf bug...

RK

[skyking26]

Re: How sad is this..

PS: I think Dave thinks I am nuts whenever he sees my collection or I ask questions pertaining to his equipment. Often shakes his head as if to say, "you don't make better use of your time?" The expression on his face speaks a thousand words...

RK

[thomecollector]

Re: How sad is this..

I know that Thome's mom collected everything. But , I don't know where all of that stuff went. His dad probably still has it. Jim does collect homerun baseballs from when he ties,or passes someone on the HR list. He has a basket full of 'em. I know he also has a bunch of his old gloves as well.

[cohibasmoker]

Re: How sad is this..

Sad? I guess it's just the Republican in me but I don't feel bad for Barfield at all. During his career, he made over $10,008,333.

Jim

[mvandor]

Re: How sad is this..

Lots of pro athletes fall on hard times due to personal financial mismanagement, crooked or incompetent money managers, or bad investments. Not all that rare. Face it, these guys got where they got largely on physical not intellectual skills, and when they're no longer of value as jocks they're on their own, in some cases for the first time in their lives.

Pride is great, but you have to eat, and/or take care of your family.

[godwulf]

Re: How sad is this..

It's not on a par with something like a Gold Glove, of course, but I picked up a nice Cooper bat a while back with a brass plaque on the barrel, inscribed to Wendell Kim, manager of the old Phoenix Firebirds, from the 1987 team. After the sale was completed, I asked the guy where he'd gotten the bat, and he said, "Oh, Wendell [who apparently is one of his neighbors] had a garage sale."

PS: I think Dave thinks I am nuts whenever he sees my collection or I ask questions pertaining to his equipment. Often shakes his head as if to say, "you don't make better use of your time?" The expression on his face speaks a thousand words...

Reminds me of the "Where do you find this stuff?" I've heard several times from Matt Williams.

Jay Bell did a signing a few years ago, and his whole family was there. I had a table to myself, with six or seven bats and a lot of other things, and Jay's wife, a very nice lady, came over and told me, "You've got more of Jay's stuff than we do."

I watched some show recently in which Randy Johnson was giving a little tour of his house, and they came to his "trophy room". He had a lot of signed bats, but none of them seemed to be gamers...they all looked pristine and unused, which I find very odd.

[skyking26]

Re: How sad is this..

It's not on a par with something like a Gold Glove, of course, but I picked up a nice Cooper bat a while back with a brass plaque on the barrel, inscribed to Wendell Kim, manager of the old Phoenix Firebirds, from the 1987 team. After the sale was completed, I asked the guy where he'd gotten the bat, and he said, "Oh, Wendell [who apparently is one of his neighbors] had a garage sale."

PS: I think Dave thinks I am nuts whenever he sees my collection or I ask questions pertaining to his equipment. Often shakes his head as if to say, "you don't make better use of your time?" The expression on his face speaks a thousand words...

Reminds me of the "Where do you find this stuff?" I've heard several times from Matt Williams.

Jay Bell did a signing a few years ago, and his whole family was there. I had a table to myself, with six or seven bats and a lot of other things, and Jay's wife, a very nice lady, came over and told me, "You've got more of Jay's stuff than we do."

I watched some show recently in which Randy Johnson was giving a little tour of his house, and they came to his "trophy room". He had a lot of signed bats, but none of them seemed to be gamers...they all looked pristine and unused, which I find very odd.

Kingman has said the same thing to me many times regarding all my stuff. Regarding Wendell Kim, my first meeting with Kingman I had a GU Firebirds helmet of Kingman. Kingman picked it up, looked inside and asked where I got "his" helmet? I said Kim took it after Dave left the club, sold it to Sports Warehouse in OR and I bought it from them in the late 80's. He was totally mystified that Kim would sell his helmet and totally clarified the fact that it was indeed his.

RK

[godwulf]

Re: How sad is this..

Regarding Wendell Kim, my first meeting with Kingman I had a GU Firebirds helmet of Kingman. Kingman picked it up, looked inside and asked where I got "his" helmet? I said Kim took it after Dave left the club, sold it to Sports Warehouse in OR and I bought it from them in the late 80's. He was totally mystified that Kim would sell his helmet and totally clarified the fact that it was indeed his.

RK

I have a Matt Williams Firebirds helmet from '88, and the guy I got it from told me that he got that one from Sports Warehouse, too. It's the only Firebirds helmet that I've seen, or (until reading your post) heard about. What color is your helmet? Mine is black.

[skyking26]

Re: How sad is this..

Mine is black as well. Bought it from Sports Warehouse back in 1989. Kingman supposedly has all his MLB helmets, so I fancy myself lucky to have this one that he said was his...and luckier still that I got it for $75 back in the day!

RK