MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

[hblakewolf]

Current offering in Hunt's auction, "1999 game worn McGwire All star jersey":

Lot Number: 332

PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR AN ENLARGED PHOTO

Lot 332

Description: 1999 Mark McGwire St. Louis Cardinals professional model road jersey from the 1999 All-Star game. Road grey knit shirt features embroidered Cardinals lettering on front with player #25 on left breast and on back. McGwire's name is stitched on nameplate on back. Embroidered 1999 All-Star game patch appears on left sleeve. Rawlings tagging appears stitched inside the front tail with adjacent flag tags noting size "52" and "2 inch shorter length". Custom stitching appears on the front tail reading "Mark McGwire 1999 All Star Game Fenway Park July 13, 1999". McGwire has signed the jersey above the number on back in black sharpie with his added notation "70" marking his record home run total of the previous season. Shirt exhibits light to moderate usage wear and retains superb display quality. Completely original and unaltered. Includes LOAs from Hunt Auctions (jersey), JSA (auto.) and an additional LOA from BAT (Baseball Assistance Team). Following the 1999 All-Star game most of the uniforms from the game were signed and donated to BAT: EX-MT
_______________________________________________

Note the placement of the sleeve patch on the offered jersey-left sleeve.

Every photo I've located from this game shows McGwire wearing a jersey with the patch on the right sleeve:





Rudy has written a few previous threads about issues surrounding these jerseys and possibly he or another Forum reader can comment. Especially odd is that this has a LOA directly from BAT (see description).

This information has been forwarded to Hunt's and possibly they can shed some insight on this.

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@comcast.net

[allstarsplus]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

I think each player brought 2 jerseys to that All Star game so one could be given to BAT.

Could it be they knew the backup would go to BAT so they sewed the All Star patch to the opposite sleeve?

The Mac sig sure looks legit.

What always makes me uneasy with LOAs like the BAT LOA is that it doesn't guarantee that it is for that particular jersey once it has changed hands. Anybody can photocopy a letter and place it with another jersey so hopefully Hunt has done due dilligence with that in mind.

Hunt also has many years of experience auctioning BAT charity All Star jerseys so hopefully they have a logical explanation.

[nogloss]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

I am a little confused. The jersey's description states "1999 Mark McGwire St. Louis Cardinals professional model road jersey from the 1999 All-Star game". Later in the description it states "Shirt exhibits light to moderate usage wear and retains superb display quality". http://www.huntauctions.com/LIVE/ima...=332&lot_qual=

No where does it state the jersey was game worn. Is it possible the jersey was issued for the game but not worn? Maybe its my lack of understanding Hunt's terminology.

[sportscentury]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

I am a little confused. The jersey's description states "1999 Mark McGwire St. Louis Cardinals professional model road jersey from the 1999 All-Star game". Later in the description it states "Shirt exhibits light to moderate usage wear and retains superb display quality". http://www.huntauctions.com/LIVE/ima...=332&lot_qual=

No where does it state the jersey was game worn. Is it possible the jersey was issued for the game but not worn? Maybe its my lack of understanding Hunt's terminology.

The Hunt terminology can be pretty confusing. There was an entire thread about this recently (do a GUU search for Hunt and you will easily find it). They use different terms to describe very similar (in terms of game issued/game used status) items. As you point out, just because they don't use the words "game used" in item title, doesn't mean that they aren't suggesting that the item was indeed game used.

[mr.miracle]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

I am a little confused. The jersey's description states "1999 Mark McGwire St. Louis Cardinals professional model road jersey from the 1999 All-Star game". Later in the description it states "Shirt exhibits light to moderate usage wear and retains superb display quality". http://www.huntauctions.com/LIVE/ima...=332&lot_qual=

No where does it state the jersey was game worn. Is it possible the jersey was issued for the game but not worn? Maybe its my lack of understanding Hunt's terminology.

Hunt lists all of their auctions to my knowledge as professional model jersey's whether they show light to no use, moderate use, heavy use etc. The question is, if this is a game issued jersey then how the heck does this or any show "light to moderate usage wear"?

[Birdbats]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

I, too, sent Hunt an e-mail last night sharing the same concerns. I also gave them a half-dozen reasons why I think the 2001 Pujols jersey is not up to snuff. If they'd just put the 2001 side-by-side with the legit 2009 shirt they also are auctioning, the differences in the fonts, number/name (plate) placement and custom hem should jump out at them. They really shouldn't have to look any further than the 5 on front to know their jersey doesn't measure up.

[sportscentury]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

If they are bad, I certainly hope they remove them. Winning bidders may have a tough time returning them after the fact, even if they have proof that they are bad. I bought a 1977 Carlton road jersey from Hunt once. It was sold as game worn, all original, unaltered. Well, Howard Wolf quickly demonstrated that the nameplate was restored (if memory serves me, I think Howard distinctly pointed out 6 or 7 things wrong with it, not the least of which was extra pin-holes!). I drove to Hunt's office to show them the proof, but David Hunt still insisted that it was all original, unaltered, including the nameplate. This was back when Hunt was using MEARS, so I contacted Dave Bushing and Dan Knoll. They reviewed the jersey again, and each individually called me to apologize for the mistake, which I very much appreciated. Bushing and Knoll quickly agreed that it was restored. Still, Hunt insisted it was all original, unaltered. I did get my money back, but it was only because of MEARS' buyback guarantee. I have not bid on a Hunt Auction item since. I don't even get their catalogs any longer. The jersey was over 7 grand ... I mean, who needs that kind of upset or hassle? They do offer some great items, and I don't have anything against the auction house ... but I just decided it was too risky to bid any longer. I thought about trying them out again when they offered Kobe's Christmas shoes earlier this year, but I couldn't match them with any photos.

[nogloss]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

It's funny you mention the Pujols jersey, because its one of the few jerseys in this auction that they label "game used". There exact terminology is "2009 Albert Pujols autographed game worn St. Louis Cardinals home jersey". It makes me nervous when some of the jerseys have the "game used" moniker, while most do not. Does this mean that a jersey with "light use" is realy game issued?

[sportscentury]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

It's funny you mention the Pujols jersey, because its one of the few jerseys in this auction that they label "game used". There exact terminology is "2009 Albert Pujols autographed game worn St. Louis Cardinals home jersey". It makes me nervous when some of the jerseys have the "game used" moniker, while most do not. Does this mean that a jersey with "light use" is realy game issued?

Again, you need to read the other thread that already covered this. Since you didn't want to take five seconds to search for it, here it is:

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=25636

[Birdbats]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

It's funny you mention the Pujols jersey, because its one of the few jerseys in this auction that they label "game used". There exact terminology is "2009 Albert Pujols autographed game worn St. Louis Cardinals home jersey". It makes me nervous when some of the jerseys have the "game used" moniker, while most do not. Does this mean that a jersey with "light use" is realy game issued?

Don't confuse the Pujols jerseys. The 2009 is game used. It's the 2001 jersey that has multiple inconsistencies.

[mattmueller]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

It would appear from the photo below, that the offered jersey could have been worn during the workout or BP activities. Assuming that since there is no A.S. game patch on right arm, its a fair assumption it is on the left sleeve, which would match the offered jersey. Also would have to assume players were issued only 2 jerseys. As the All Star patch appears on both left and right sleeves of various players, I could see why the jerseys would have the patch on different sleeves. Also a possibility (slim one) that McGwire changed jerseys during the actual All Star game and wore one with the patch on the left sleeve as offered in the auction. So, as asked in a different thread, anybody have video of the game?

Also, as noted above, nowhere in the listing does Hunt say the jersey was worn in the game. Its written so that you might assume it, but it doesn't say so. I would be interested to read the LOA from Hunt and BAT.

Matt

[allstarsplus]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

It would appear from the photo below, that the offered jersey could have been worn during the workout or BP activities. Assuming that since there is no A.S. game patch on right arm, its a fair assumption it is on the left sleeve, which would match the offered jersey. Also would have to assume players were issued only 2 jerseys. As the All Star patch appears on both left and right sleeves of various players, I could see why the jerseys would have the patch on different sleeves. Also a possibility (slim one) that McGwire changed jerseys during the actual All Star game and wore one with the patch on the left sleeve as offered in the auction. So, as asked in a different thread, anybody have video of the game?

Also, as noted above, nowhere in the listing does Hunt say the jersey was worn in the game. Its written so that you might assume it, but it doesn't say so. I would be interested to read the LOA from Hunt and BAT.

Matt

Good work. My read on it also was this was an All Star jersey extra that was give to the B.A.T. charity and was not worn in this game.

[nickacs]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

Good work. My read on it also was this was an All Star jersey extra that was give to the B.A.T. charity and was not worn in this game.

My thoughts exactly. My personal opinion is it was "game issued", but never worn as someone already pointed out that Hunt is including "game worn" in some auction item descriptions and some not.

Great work/comments from everyone!

[mr.miracle]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

It would appear from the photo below, that the offered jersey could have been worn during the workout or BP activities. Assuming that since there is no A.S. game patch on right arm, its a fair assumption it is on the left sleeve, which would match the offered jersey. Also would have to assume players were issued only 2 jerseys. As the All Star patch appears on both left and right sleeves of various players, I could see why the jerseys would have the patch on different sleeves. Also a possibility (slim one) that McGwire changed jerseys during the actual All Star game and wore one with the patch on the left sleeve as offered in the auction. So, as asked in a different thread, anybody have video of the game?

Also, as noted above, nowhere in the listing does Hunt say the jersey was worn in the game. Its written so that you might assume it, but it doesn't say so. I would be interested to read the LOA from Hunt and BAT.

Matt

This is where I could always kick myself for not taping All-Star games. There have been at least 4-5 instances in just the last year where I have desperately searching for pics from past all-star games and very few can be located. I get really pissed at Getty, Corbis etc. as well because you do a search for instance for mlb all star games and last years finale at Yankee Stadium comes up with like 200 pics. You are lucky to be able to find 5 pics of variou 1980's games. Either they don't exist or are buried

[xpress34]

Re: MARK McGWIRE '99 ALL STAR JERSEY????

I, too, sent Hunt an e-mail last night sharing the same concerns. I also gave them a half-dozen reasons why I think the 2001 Pujols jersey is not up to snuff. If they'd just put the 2001 side-by-side with the legit 2009 shirt they also are auctioning, the differences in the fonts, number/name (plate) placement and custom hem should jump out at them. They really shouldn't have to look any further than the 5 on front to know their jersey doesn't measure up.

Jeff -

Is it possible that some of the inconsistencies come from the fact that in 2001 the Cardinals Jerseys were made by Rawlings and in 2009 they were made by Majestic?

I know that once the Rockies left Russell and went to Majestic there were some changes - the biggest being the buttons on the Home White jerseys. I've mentioned it before - and I'm not sure any other team ahs ever done it - but while with Russell (who had just rcvd the MLB contract in 1993 - Rox 1st year) the Home White Game Uses and Team issued jersseys ahd UNIQUE Cream Colored buttons that were ingraved 'Colorado Rockies' around the edge of them. These jerseys were NOT available at retail until the end of the season when the Rox would send Blank Unused ones to their Dugout stores for sale.

When Majestic took over, they went staright to White Pearlized buttons - Team Issued/Game Used or Authentic (retail)/Replica.

Anyway, not defending Hunt, just palying Devil's advocate and stating what jumped out at me immediately is that you are trying to compare two distinctly different manufacturers.

Just my .02

All the best -

Chris