Pujols jersey on ebay

[seven4five20]

Hello. I saw this on ebay and was interested during its original auction last week. It had a reserve that was not met. It is now reposted with no reserve. It looks good to me, but lacks documentation. What do you guys think? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380294193463&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

[EurekaDave]

This is just my opinion. The lettering on the name does not appear perfectly symmetrical to the number. Also, it has no identifying tags at all. Finally, it is difficult to imagine a jersey of that player's magnitude with a starting price that low. I'm just generally suspicious of jerseys price so low as to be too good to be true. There is a lot of really crazy stuff out there and it looks like this is one to avoid.

Dave Silverbrand

PS: Now watch it be the eBay find of the ages!!!

[Birdbats]

The first question I asked myself is, if this is a 2002 jersey, where are the sleeve patches for Darryl Kile and Jack Buck? If we accept it's legit, then we have to accept it was taken out of circulation prior to mid-June. For that to happen, there should be a good reason -- extreme wear, tearing, wrong size, something.

The next thing I consider is the lack of a straight hem. Granted, Pujols was a second-year guy in 2002, but his jerseys still should probably have a straight hem or be cut off. The only exceptions might be single-use jerseys, like for a jersey off the back game.

Personally, I believe the 5 on the front is too low. It should be 1" below the logo. Considering the navy tackle twill of the number is 7/8", the space between the logo and number should be roughly equal to the thickness of the top part of the 5. I did some copying/cutting/pasting and there was still significant white space remaining.

I'd expect some kind of paperwork with any Pujols jersey. I'd also expect to see a significantly higher minimum bid price. If you thought your Pujols jersey was legit, would you risk letting it go for that little? Me neither. Not saying the seller is trying to pull a fast one... just curious why he wouldn't price the jersey where it belongs. I'd think a legit, 2002 Pujols with proper documentation should bring $3-5,000.

[rj_lucas]

I don't know, the spacing on the front doesn't look that far off to me. Here are pictures of the eBay shirt, along with a 2010 game issued (not worn) jersey with MLB hologram, and Albert's 2001 All-Star game jersey (from the Dove video of Albert's personal collection, so we know it's real :) )

The spacing between the 5 and the Cards logo looks to be about the same on all three, unless I misunderstood Jeff's description.

The eBay listing states the jersey is from before June 20, so the lack of patches would be correct. Also, in regard to Dave's comment about the lack of tags, the eBay photos show the size and set tags, which appear to be correct e.g. size 48 is what you would expect for a 2002 Pujols jersey.

Personally, I'd want to know the provenance of this jersey before making a bid. The lack of a straight hem on a Pujols jersey sometimes indicates an extra jersey issued specifically to be given away or used for charity, and not for game use. I'm not saying that is or isn't the case here, but it's something you might want to ask about.

Rick
rickjlucas@gmail.com

[Birdbats]

Rick, I don't disagree. The spacing isn't always consistent. I have jerseys from the team with spacing up to 1 1/8". It's just a general rule of thumb when looking at photos that the space between the logo and numbers should be a slight bit more than the thickness of the numbers. This looked a little off to me, but nothing like the Pujols jersey currently offered by Grey Flannel (below).

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/birdbats/GFPujols.jpg

As for the date of the jersey, I think this is a chicken/egg situation. The seller says it must date from opening day to June 20 because it doesn't have the patches. That could simply be the conclusion he drew based on the lack of patches. To accept that as fact, like you, I'd want more provenance -- specifically something that explains why a perfectly good jersey stopped being used before the All-Star break.

You know we can never say "never." There's always the chance this jersey is an outlier -- a legit shirt with no patches and an athletic cut. But, without provenance, there's no way to justify those inconsistencies. All you can do is rationalize. Maybe it's a spring training shirt; don't know if, in 2002, the team had a separate set for the spring or not. Could be an issued jersey that Albert just never wore because he had other shirts with the straight hem he preferred. There are many possible scenarios. In the end, though, without provenance, the jersey has to stand on its own.

For the record, I've owned one 2002 jersey with no patches -- it was made for Stubby Clapp, but was not worn because he was never called up in 2002. Bought it from the team after the 2003 season.

[rj_lucas]

Yeah, the GF shirt should come with a towing package and air brakes because you could drive a truck through that gap :eek:

Rick
rickjlucas@gmail.com

[seven4five20]

Just saw that this jersey is back up. It seems as though the seller addressed the concern of the number placement on the front by measuring the distance between the letters and the number. I still really dont know where to go on this one...