CAl Ripken Jr game bat

[worldchamps]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=001

So was this discussed?? Did this person get a legit gamer???

[ripkengamers]

All indications indicate its legit. I used to have the same model year bat in my collection as surprisingly looked very much the same as this one............too much like this one...........although I'm not a "MLB source"

[Carlevv]

It looked good to me. The spot where Cal signed it is right where Cal signed my gamer as well. Nice bat.

[Rboitano]

The ball marks look really small to me. I think the ball marks should be larger. I have seen bats in the past that have had a bunch of really small ball marks, like this bat. It looks like someone laid a ball on the ground and hit the ball with the bat to give those small golf ball size transfers.

[Carlevv]

Now that i look at it your way i agree. There are no ball marks that the signature is overlapping as well. Looks like maybe Cal could have given away a game bat signed and someone doctored it up a bit. All the ball marks seem to be in one spot. Cal was a great hitter but to have no marks on the reverse side of the barrell or towards the end seems a little weird. Good call Rboitono.

[Rboitano]

I have seen a dealer who seems to have a large number of bats that have these same "golf ball" size ball marks. Its remarkable that all most every ball mark got a bit of the blue ink transfer as well. You dont see that on bats that have normal size ball marks.

[SkubeBats]

I see he sold this Ripken for over $1600. Then why does he have the same bat relisted on ebay. Maybe the high bidder realized something might be wrong with this bat a decieded not to buy it after all.

[bigtruck260]

Check out the CSI thread.....

[mr.miracle]

I will need some time to look closely at the photos from that auction. One of the problematic issues with Ripken bats among others is that he had many clear usage traits that are very well known to the general public. As a result, it is not incredibly difficult to doctor a bat to the point that it would fool all but the most educated collectors. I actually had a Ripken or a reported Ripken in my collection that was doctored so well that it had every solid use trait and matched his bats perfectly. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, John Taube examined this and found that there at one point had been a line under the 125 on the centerbrand that had been expertly filled in with wood filler and painted. This bat fooled two very knowledgable Ripken bat collectors. I am not commenting yet on this bat as I have not viewed detailed photos, but with the current prices of Ripken game bats I would be very, very wary purchasing anything that was not graded professionally or at least came with a full 100% money back guarentee if the bat did not prove to be authentic. I will comment further later today as time permits.

[ironmanfan]

While it's impossible for me to render a real opinion about this bat without seeing it in person, I can tell you that I have purchased a couple of other game used Ripken items from this seller (hat & flapless batting helmet) that have been 100% authentic (both were signed & confirmed genuine by Cal). I cannot comment on everything this guy has sold, but he does have Major League connections and my experience with him has been nothing but positive.