Curious to see if anyone has gotten any info on the Ripken Game Used Base (Lot # 32087) in the currrent Historic Auctions offering. It is located here: Ripken Base
First off, the listing says "Cal Ripken played in every Orioles game from May 30th, 1982 to September 20th, 1998." A few sentences later, when describing the offered base, it states "This is a rare chance to own an actual game used base which was used during the streak on 8/19/01, as the Orioles played the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park."
So, from that description, I assume that this couldn't have been used during the streak if it is from 2001. Also, the listing refers to the MLB hologram number on the base, saying, "This base also sports the Official Major League Baseball hologram with the league numbers gt00040417, which further insures the base's authenticity." When I looked that up, the MLB database says the base dates from 8/26/2001, not from 8/19/01.
I recall the Sox (and many other teams) using these bases during Cal's farewell tour in 2001, but on 8/26/01, according to http://www.baseball-almanac.com, the Red Sox were playing in Texas. The Orioles were at Fenway on 9/26/01, which would have been Rip's second to last game at Fenway. The Orioles were also at Fenway on 8/19/01, the date the listing says the base was used, but I don't remember those basees being used until Rip's final trip to each city, so I don't know if they would have been used for the Orioles' August trip to Boston.
Now, I suppose it is possible that there is a typo in the listing and this base is from 1991 instead of 2001, but I don't imagine the Red Sox would put Rip's 8 on a base for any average game, and I don't recall that teams regularly used specially-painted bases that early. So, regardless of which of those dates it was actually used, I'm still not sure that it could have dated from the streak as the listing suggests.
So, I'm pretty confused about this one, especially with all these conflicting dates....any ideas? Has anyone asked for more clarification on this item?
Thanks,
Rick
First off, the listing says "Cal Ripken played in every Orioles game from May 30th, 1982 to September 20th, 1998." A few sentences later, when describing the offered base, it states "This is a rare chance to own an actual game used base which was used during the streak on 8/19/01, as the Orioles played the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park."
So, from that description, I assume that this couldn't have been used during the streak if it is from 2001. Also, the listing refers to the MLB hologram number on the base, saying, "This base also sports the Official Major League Baseball hologram with the league numbers gt00040417, which further insures the base's authenticity." When I looked that up, the MLB database says the base dates from 8/26/2001, not from 8/19/01.
I recall the Sox (and many other teams) using these bases during Cal's farewell tour in 2001, but on 8/26/01, according to http://www.baseball-almanac.com, the Red Sox were playing in Texas. The Orioles were at Fenway on 9/26/01, which would have been Rip's second to last game at Fenway. The Orioles were also at Fenway on 8/19/01, the date the listing says the base was used, but I don't remember those basees being used until Rip's final trip to each city, so I don't know if they would have been used for the Orioles' August trip to Boston.
Now, I suppose it is possible that there is a typo in the listing and this base is from 1991 instead of 2001, but I don't imagine the Red Sox would put Rip's 8 on a base for any average game, and I don't recall that teams regularly used specially-painted bases that early. So, regardless of which of those dates it was actually used, I'm still not sure that it could have dated from the streak as the listing suggests.
So, I'm pretty confused about this one, especially with all these conflicting dates....any ideas? Has anyone asked for more clarification on this item?
Thanks,
Rick
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