Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

[ironmanfan]

I had the pleasure yesterday of going to Cooperstown for a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame and on the four hour ride back home, let my mind wander if I had any memorabilia worthy of display there (obviously as a loan; not donation).

The best thing I could think of out of my collection were the lineup cards that were carried in the home plate umpires pocket on 05/30/82, for the first game of Cal Ripken Jr.'s consecutive game streak.

What's the ONE item you currently own that you could imagine the Hall of Fame (baseball or football) accepting for display?

Bill
whhp72@yahoo.com

[Dewey2007]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

Bill, Great question! I definitely think your Orioles lineup cards are HOF worthy given their obvious connection to Cal's streak. Unfortunately I don't have anything in my collection that is HOF worthy except maybe the 1930's Alameda japanese flannels that I have.

Sounds like you had a great time on your visit to the HOF. I've yet to make it there but I hope to one of these days.

Dewey

[joelsabi]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

I had the pleasure yesterday of going to Cooperstown for a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame and on the four hour ride back home, let my mind wander if I had any memorabilia worthy of display there (obviously as a loan; not donation).

The best thing I could think of out of my collection were the lineup cards that were carried in the home plate umpires pocket on 05/30/82, for the first game of Cal Ripken Jr.'s consecutive game streak.

What's the ONE item you currently own that you could imagine the Hall of Fame (baseball or football) accepting for display?

Bill
whhp72@yahoo.com

i can definitely see your item in the hall of fame display.

not one item in mine would qualify.

[kylehess10]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

i can definitely see your item in the hall of fame display.

not one item in mine would qualify.

I agree. That's a very nice piece.


I personally wouldn't loan anything to the HOF, since I think it looks better in my room

I think the only possible piece I have that could be remotely close to being HOF quality is Mark Kotsay's jersey worn when he became only the 2nd player in Atlanta Braves history to hit for the cycle. It would look nice if inside a display for Atlanta Braves equipment.

[lehmsbobby]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

definitely that would be worthy Kyle.


As for me, nothing except for possibly my Barry Bonds 2000 Sam Bat, if I could just photomatch the dang thing which i'm having tons of trouble with.
I am convinced my bat is a HR bat, considering the amount of use, and if so, if Barry passed someone on the all-time home run list, it could be HOF worthy. Probably not, but at least close .

[karamaxjoe]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

I think the HOF would like to have the only pair of shorts ever worn by a Hall of Famer in a game. Plus the novalty value is priceless.

[WadeInBmore]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

I would love to be able to loan all my Frank Thomas items to the Hall of Fame when he gets inducted I think that would be awesome and make all my Big Hurt items HOF worthy for that one day/weekend/exhibit.

I think that would be the ultimate for me. My items in a HOF exhibit honoring my favorite player...hey, maybe I'd even get a chance to meet the man himself.

wade

[suicide_squeeze]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

Far be it from me to be the type to throw a cold bucket of water on you guys while you are in deep rem sleep ......

.......but I thought you'd like to know...the Hall of Fame doesn't take "loans" of ANYTHING for display. It's got to be a "donation"....or it will not be displayed in the Hall of Fame. That's the policy, agreed with or not. They just don't take the responsibility for "loaned" items. I have inquired into this a long time ago and was sent a very nice response explaining their operation. If I can find it, I'll post it here.

But the thread is cool, and I'll post a few of my items this Holiday weekend when I have a bit of time. I think I have one or two items that the Hall would welcome with open arms.

[xpress34]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

I have two pieces that might be Hall Worthy:

#1 - My 1890's Spalding SEAMLESS (or 'Inside Out Stitch') Baseball. These are EXTREMELY Rare (possibly rarer than 'Lemon Pell' balls) and a great example of early baseball design ideas. I know that I have seen way more Lemon peels show up for sale than I have Seamless. In fact my Seamless is the only one I have ever actually seen (in person or in pictures)... I have only seen old catalog renditions...





#2 - My 2007 Matt Holliday GU World Series Hat. Matt only wore 2 hats in the 4 game sweep - 1 all black and 1 Alt w/ Purple Bill. It was the Rockies 1st World Series and therefore a historic event. In fact, they wore the purple bill hats in Game 1 - there 1st WS game!



and TWO Honorable Mentions:

1) if Holliday stays as a Premiere player (and not the anomaly that happened in Oakland) and has a strong career, my 2000 Spring Training jersey of Holliday's - his ONLY jersey for ST 2000 and his 1st MLB ST - might be worthy...





2) already a HOFer, how about a GU Hat from 1994 - his LAST Season - of George 'Sparky' Anderson w/ Tigers COA:



Great thread by the way!!!

- Chris

[joelsabi]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

I agree. That's a very nice piece.


I personally wouldn't loan anything to the HOF, since I think it looks better in my room

I think the only possible piece I have that could be remotely close to being HOF quality is Mark Kotsay's jersey worn when he became only the 2nd player in Atlanta Braves history to hit for the cycle. It would look nice if inside a display for Atlanta Braves equipment.

kyle,

in the hof.each team has a locker full of equipment. not sure if the items in the locker are from hof players of those teams or represent item from that are historical to the team. if its historical to the team, i would definitely see that item in the locker display. i dont think every team has a hof player so im thinking its historical items for the team. anyone know?

[kylehess10]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

kyle,

in the hof.each team has a locker full of equipment. not sure if the items in the locker are from hof players of those teams or represent item from that are historical to the team. if its historical to the team, i would definitely see that item in the locker display. i dont think every team has a hof player so im thinking its historical items for the team. anyone know?

I do know what you're talking about. The last time I was at the HOF, which was 2005, I remember seeing that room with lockers for each team. I was thinking very well that the Kotsay jersey would best fit in there. They always have random memorabilia from each team from what I remember. World Series memorabilia....record setting equipment,,etc.

[ironmanfan]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

Far be it from me to be the type to throw a cold bucket of water on you guys while you are in deep rem sleep ......

.......but I thought you'd like to know...the Hall of Fame doesn't take "loans" of ANYTHING for display. It's got to be a "donation"....or it will not be displayed in the Hall of Fame. That's the policy, agreed with or not. They just don't take the responsibility for "loaned" items. I have inquired into this a long time ago and was sent a very nice response explaining their operation. If I can find it, I'll post it here.

I don't want to derail this thread, however I have to disagree with this statement that the Hall "doesn't take loans" of anything...

Obviously, the vast majority of the items they display have been gifted/donated to them, I did see actually see SEVERAL items with the notation "on loan from...." which actually gave me the idea for this thread.

The one that comes to mind first is the baseball that ended the 2004 World Series which is displayed with the notation that this ball was "on loan from Doug Mienkiewicz" (you think that Mienkiewicz just gave that baby to them???) Additionally, in the individual display cases of recent inductees Joe Gordon, Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson were various pieces noted as "on loan from....." Not all the loan items I noted were from players themselves, but "average people" too.

While I'm not certain, I also believe that the Barry Bonds infamous "asterisk" record record breaking 756th HR ball is "on loan" from Mark Ecko.

I think it's clear that the HOF would prefer to own all the items they display, BUT if someone had someone that "fit" what they were looking for at a particular time, it's painfully obvious that they are open to loans.

Without getting into semantics, I think most people understand the spirit of this thread (or at least I thought they would) and I'm looking forward to seeing what other people have to show...

[ironmanfan]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

I think the only possible piece I have that could be remotely close to being HOF quality is Mark Kotsay's jersey worn when he became only the 2nd player in Atlanta Braves history to hit for the cycle. It would look nice if inside a display for Atlanta Braves equipment.

In the room that was mentioned, they had the cleats that the Orioles' Felix Pie wore when he hit for the cycle last summer....The indivdual team lockers showcase "histroically significant" items from both regular & HOF players aike......Your Kotsay jersey is a great thought.

[sayhey24]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

Just to correct a statement made above, the HOF does indeed take items on loan. After the election of Dick Williams and Goose Gossage, the Hall borrowed a bat of each from my collection for one year. In the display case right next to my Williams bat was a beautiful Billy Southworth flannel, on loan from a prominent uniform collector. A year or two before, a couple of incredibly rare Negro League game bats were on display and described as on loan from a New Jersey collector. I also recall seeing several Joe Gordon items on display right now that I believe were on loan from the Gordon family (according to the small placards in the display case).

Greg

[ironmanfan]

Re: Any Item In Your Collection HOF Worthy?

Just to correct a statement made above, the HOF does indeed take items on loan. After the election of Dick Williams and Goose Gossage, the Hall borrowed a bat of each from my collection for one year. In the display case right next to my Williams bat was a beautiful Billy Southworth flannel, on loan from a prominent uniform collector. A year or two before, a couple of incredibly rare Negro League game bats were on display and described as on loan from a New Jersey collector. I also recall seeing several Joe Gordon items on display right now that I believe were on loan from the Gordon family (according to the small placards in the display case).

Greg

Greg:

Thanks for the backup on this....After I sent my initial response to that erroneous remark, I remembered that a collector I knew loaned the HOF a Phil Niekro GU bat the year he was inducted as well.