Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

[sarahsdad]

Hello Forum Members:
About 2 weeks ago I received an email from Bob Malandro at Steiner Sports containing a spread sheet with a massive amount of Yankees memorabilia for sale. As I went through the list I saw a Jason Giambi Game Issued LS bat for $100. I ordered it and it arrived today. It is a LS model G174, just like he uses and under the "125" there is a line. Anyone out there have any idea why a game issued bat from Steiner would have this line under the "125" in the center oval just above the "Louisville Slugger." I have a half dozen game used LS bats and none of them have a line under the 125. I thought that when a bat had the line under the 125 the bat was for promotional use only and not for potential use in a game. Needless to say I am quite disappointed that this happened. Anyone had a similar incident? Anyone know why the line is under the 125? Thanks for any help.
Howard

[ChrisCavalier]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

Hello Forum Members:
About 2 weeks ago I received an email from Bob Malandro at Steiner Sports containing a spread sheet with a massive amount of Yankees memorabilia for sale. As I went through the list I saw a Jason Giambi Game Issued LS bat for $100. I ordered it and it arrived today. It is a LS model G174, just like he uses and under the "125" there is a line. Anyone out there have any idea why a game issued bat from Steiner would have this line under the "125" in the center oval just above the "Louisville Slugger." I have a half dozen game used LS bats and none of them have a line under the 125. I thought that when a bat had the line under the 125 the bat was for promotional use only and not for potential use in a game. Needless to say I am quite disappointed that this happened. Anyone had a similar incident? Anyone know why the line is under the 125? Thanks for any help.
Howard

Hello Howard,

My understanding of bats stamped with the underlined 125 is consistent with the definition found in the Glossary of Terms in Vince Malta's new book. Here is the relevant passage:

Show Bats Made to display player autographs for large sports conventions and shows, often resembling a professional bat, but usually made of a random weight. In the 1990s, most H&B show bats were stamped with a baselined 125, distinguishing them from their pro counterparts.

Hope that helps.

Sincerely,
Chris

[suave1477]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

In Steiners defense and human arror defense....

thats all this might be is a human error.

Possible reasons for this bat..

1) It could have gotten mixed by accident with Giambis Game Issued bats and they grabbed whichever bat and sent it out. Bob doesnt ship the bats he would have placed the order and there shipping department would have sent it out.
2) Giambi himself (it is possible have heard of things like this before) might of ran out of bats and asked the gift store to send him one down.
3) Maybe the manufacturer by accident got it mixed in with Giambis batch and thats why he didnt use it.

If it really bothers you that much I am sure you can contact Bob and explain to him the situation, he will try to correct it.

[sarahsdad]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

I did contact Bob by email and by phone. He replied with a 2 sentence email basically telling me to send it back if I was not happy with it. No explanation, no "Oops". I think its sad that Steiner of all people would send out something like that. Steiner hologram or not, most collectors won't touch a bat with the line under the 125 and then to sell it as "Game Issued". If there is a collector out there who thinks I am being unreasonable I would love to hear from them. Thanks everyone for all of your help.
Howard

[suave1477]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

Well again I think your being a bit unreasonable. It is human error as I mentioned before Bob himself doesn't ship out the items himself. They just put in an order to the shipping dept with a ton of Giambi Issued bats they grab one package it and ship it out there is no real science to it, to some average joe working in shipping to know anything more then it was labeled as Game Issued.

On top of that I gave you 3 other possible reasons which anyone of them could of actually happend.

It is not like Bob turned around and said too bad your stuck with it. You said it yourself Bob asked you to return it I am sure if he could he would try to replace it with the correct item.

Again it is just a minor human error, I am sure you werent singled out to be done intentionally.

[sarahsdad]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

I am trying to understand what you are saying. Here is how I see it. Steiner and many in the collecting world consider Steiner to be the Holy Grail whem it comes to Yankees items and as such everyone who purchases from them pays a premium for their items. Yet they send me what they believe to be is a game issued Giambi bat with a line under the 125, and they did not include a LOA. I am going out on a limb here but I'll bet Lampson would have rejected this bat due to the line under the 125. And we all know Lampson does not reject anything. I tried to get an explanation from Bob Malandro as to why the bat had a line under the 125 and he did not give me one. All he said was if you are not satisfied send it back. Are there any collectors out there who would have kept this bat? I'd like to hear from you. Thanks everone.
Sarahsdad

[Carlevv]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

The bats with the line under them cost the team about half of what the real game bats cost. They started buying them that way to save money when someone wanted an autograph bat from a player. For instance, Posada needs a bat for his charity from Jason Giambi, they get the replica because to some people they just dont know the difference. The wood on the replica bat is bad as far as good graing goes hence the price cut in half. For Steiner to send one of those out IMO it not a human error its just plain wrong. That bat should have never even been in the same room with Giambi's game bats. Im going to go out on a limb here and say this isnt the first time Steiner has done this.

[stlbats]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

You can buy that exact Giambi bat from Anaconda Sports for $75 right now. Blonde LVS G174 with the line under the 125. Its simply not a game issue bat, but a promo. I personally would send it back.

Thanks
Jason
ripken8@bellsouth.net
Always looking for STL bats.

[sarahsdad]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

Thanks for the replies. The bat was sent back but I paid the postage for the POS to be sent to me and then for me to send it back. Steiner clearly does not need my business. They was not even an attempt to make things right but it does make me suspect and doubt Steiner's reputation and some of the items they are representing as game used and game issued. And by the way the 25 page spreadsheet they emailed to me went right in the trash and I will not purchase another item from them. And in my opinion their LOA's are just as good as toilet paper.
Sarahsdad

[Carlevv]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

LOA's are the biggest joke in this hobby IMO.

[suave1477]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

Thanks for the replies. The bat was sent back but I paid the postage for the POS to be sent to me and then for me to send it back. Steiner clearly does not need my business. They was not even an attempt to make things right but it does make me suspect and doubt Steiner's reputation and some of the items they are representing as game used and game issued. And by the way the 25 page spreadsheet they emailed to me went right in the trash and I will not purchase another item from them. And in my opinion their LOA's are just as good as toilet paper.
Sarahsdad

I hate to say this but I am taking this personally not just to defend Steiner but as a Dealer/ Collector.

You said there was not even an attempt to make things right in the same breath you said Bob offered to tak the bat back - Make up your mind!!
Have you ever heard of Human Error???
It happens no one is perfect espcially in this hobby.
You sit here and act like they targeted you and did this on purppose.
I don't understand how you can't comprehend that it was a bat that got mixed into there Game Issueds by accident. They wren't selling you the retail bat as a Game Issued on purpose.
You can hold Steiner as the Holy Grail or not, but the remainder of the fact is they have the contract with the Yankees and you can sleep easier at night knowing for sure you got an item that came directly from the Yankees.
Again the "Average Joe" who works in shipping, just grabs the bat and ships it out (Thats his Job shipping nothing else).

[suave1477]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

Thanks for the replies. The bat was sent back but I paid the postage for the POS to be sent to me and then for me to send it back. Steiner clearly does not need my business. They was not even an attempt to make things right but it does make me suspect and doubt Steiner's reputation and some of the items they are representing as game used and game issued. And by the way the 25 page spreadsheet they emailed to me went right in the trash and I will not purchase another item from them. And in my opinion their LOA's are just as good as toilet paper.
Sarahsdad

I hate to say this but I am taking this personally not just to defend Steiner but as a Dealer/ Collector.

You said there was not even an attempt to make things right in the same breath you said Bob offered to tak the bat back - Make up your mind!!
Have you ever heard of Human Error???
It happens no one is perfect espcially in this hobby.
You sit here and act like they targeted you and did this on purppose.
I don't understand how you can't comprehend that it was a bat that got mixed into there Game Issueds by accident. They wren't selling you the retail bat as a Game Issued on purpose.
You can hold Steiner as the Holy Grail or not, but the remainder of the fact is they have the contract with the Yankees and you can sleep easier at night knowing for sure you got an item that came directly from the Yankees.
Again the "Average Joe" who works in shipping, just grabs the bat and ships it out (Thats his Job shipping nothing else). I dont know how much more you can ask of Steiner are you looking for blood????

All Dealers are human mistakes do happen as long they as they tried to make things right is what counts.

[sarahsdad]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

Telling me to send it back is not making it right. Sending out the correct bat is making it right. Asking "What can I do to correct this?" is making it right. A 2 sentence email telling me to send it back does not make it right. What other "Human Errors" has Steiner made that the average collector did not catch? Would someone who just started out in this hobby have known to reject a bat with a line under the 125? Maybe. Maybe not. You would have relied on Steiner to send out the appropriate item only to perhaps find out years later that it was no good and since Steiners return policy is 30 days you are SOL when trying to return it. What has Steiner done with the bat since I sent it back? Did they destroy it or is it back in the shipping department waiting to be shipped to an unsuspecting/novice collector who assumes Steiner knows what they are shipping out? I never once said they targeted me. You infered that. All I reported was the facts. Would you have kept the bat? Bottom line, this should have never happened and it makes other items from them suspect and all items from Steiner should be airtight since as you pointed out they "Have the contract", so how did a promo bat get in their warehouse and what other promo items are in their warehouse waiting to be shipped out?
Thanks for the dialogue.
sarahsdad

[suave1477]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

Telling me to send it back is not making it right. Sending out the correct bat is making it right. Asking "What can I do to correct this?" is making it right. A 2 sentence email telling me to send it back does not make it right. What other "Human Errors" has Steiner made that the average collector did not catch? Would someone who just started out in this hobby have known to reject a bat with a line under the 125? Maybe. Maybe not. You would have relied on Steiner to send out the appropriate item only to perhaps find out years later that it was no good and since Steiners return policy is 30 days you are SOL when trying to return it. What has Steiner done with the bat since I sent it back? Did they destroy it or is it back in the shipping department waiting to be shipped to an unsuspecting/novice collector who assumes Steiner knows what they are shipping out? I never once said they targeted me. You infered that. All I reported was the facts. Would you have kept the bat? Bottom line, this should have never happened and it makes other items from them suspect and all items from Steiner should be airtight since as you pointed out they "Have the contract", so how did a promo bat get in their warehouse and what other promo items are in their warehouse waiting to be shipped out?
Thanks for the dialogue.
sarahsdad

Sarahsdad I don't know to me them asking you to send it back seems pretty good. its not like the turned around and said "oh well too bad" Your saying they have a 30 day return policy I am almost certain in a case such as this if you realized it was a retail bat after the 30 days they would still honor or try to rectify the situation.
Yes they are human just like every other dealer.
Which means every dealer is run by a Human so human error will alsway be made.
If you know of a company that is completely run by computers and robots please point it out I would love to visit there corporate office.
Since you feel human error is unacceptable how do you purchase anyting??? All companies that I know of have made a Human Error at some point.
MicroSoft
Pepsi
HBO
Johnson & Johnson

These are all billion dollar companies that have human error going on daily I wonder how they survive????

I think your a bit unreasonable to make Steiner a target of of questioning!!!

This will be my last post on this topic and I think everyone here can see the point I am making with out draging this out any further.
Sarahsdad I wish you luck in your collecting and would like to say I don't think Steiner should be held accountable for one mistake as then you shouldnt purchase from anyone since we all make mistakes.

[sarahsdad]

Re: Steiner/Jason Giambi bat

You continue to miss the point. So I will let it go. I have said what I have to say and I know, based on the response, others have gotten my point. Enough said.
Sarahsdad