What Teams was the 1st to sell GU items?

[pietraynor]

Stadium seats notwithstanding, what team was the 1st to sell Game Used items/equipment to the public? As a kid, I remember going into the Cincinnati Reds 580 Gift Shop & seeing a barrel full of bats for sale (caught my eye, but didn't have the cash as a kid) & I've seen game used baseballs from Cincy on ebay as far back as being used in 1971. Reds even supplied a detailed LOA/COA which was ahead of their time. Can anyone recall anything earlier? Anyone know what year the Reds started or the history as to how/why the Reds started? Would be a nice article. Jay.

[sox83cubs84]

Legend has it that, sometime in the early/mid 1970's, the Cleveland Indians had a sale with flannels available...at $5 each. You KNOW with those prices that we're talking a LOOONG time ago.

Dave M.
Chicago area

[jbsportstuff]

I have a couple of those old 580 gift shop items. I have a baseball dating back to 1978 and a Tony Perez gamer as well.

I know that a 1976 Concepcion bi-centennial bat showed up on Ebay recently that was purchased at the 580 gift shop.

[33bird]

I have that Concepcion.

[sox83cubs84]

One of the first bulk buys of game used jerseys was NOT by a game-used collector or dealer. The entire run of 1977 Phillies home and road jerseys was acquired in 1978 by Mike Aronstein of the old TCMA, and sold through full page ads in SCD. High ticket jerseys (in this case, Schmidt, Carlton, and Luzinski) were a whopping $200 each.

Dave M.
Chicago area

[suicide_squeeze]

One of the first bulk buys of game used jerseys was NOT by a game-used collector or dealer. The entire run of 1977 Phillies home and road jerseys was acquired in 1978 by Mike Aronstein of the old TCMA, and sold through full page ads in SCD. High ticket jerseys (in this case, Schmidt, Carlton, and Luzinski) were a whopping $200 each.

Dave M.
Chicago area

............Where's that gall-darn Flux Capacitor when ya need it???

[jonincleve]

i can vouch for the cleveland indians selling game used items at their gift shop back in the late 70's early 80's. you will still see some of their letterhead show up from time to time with some of the items. the years were at least 1979-1983. my mom used to work at a bank downtown right around the corner from the gift shop. as a 10 year old i used to get on a bus and go downtown to meet her from lunch during the summer. can you imagine a 10 year old doing THAT today. child services would be involved on that one.

anyway if i got down there early i would go to the gift shop and look around. they had 1 circle rack of jerseys and 2 garbage cans of bats. i remember asking the salesman 'how do you know rick manning wore this jersey?' he pulled out a LOA from lou lampson and said lou signed off on it of course i couldn't resist....actually he told me they get them from the clubhouse sometimes before they go to the minor leagues and they wouldn't go to 'all this effort' if they weren't worn by the player. at 10 years old i was kind of shy and never really asked any more questions. the only item i remember buying was a jim norris uncracked bat that i used at our playground games until i broke it. the salesman was pissed because it was still a good bat that i got for $5 vs a 'new' one on the shelf for $15 or wahatever the prices were back then.

i guess a 10 year old on a bus with a bat is pretty safe.

just thought i would share

take care
john

[hiramman]

The Atlanta Braves were selling their game-used jerseys to fans & collectors in the early-mid 1980's. I know I've seen price lists sent out by the Braves themselves as early as 1984 - 1985.

[sox83cubs84]

The Atlanta Braves were selling their game-used jerseys to fans & collectors in the early-mid 1980's. I know I've seen price lists sent out by the Braves themselves as early as 1984 - 1985.

I remember that...Bill Acree (did I spell that right?) was ahead of his time as far as cooperative equipment managers go. For a while they also used to deal them to Phil Schaefer and Doak Ewing (now the man at Rare Sportsfilms), who would then sell them to collectors, although often after cherry-picking some of the best names.

Dave M.
Chicago area

[Utopian2630]

I can remember the very first Pirates Clubhouse store at the old Allegheny Center Mall on the North Side near where all of the parks are. My first visit there was around 88-89 when I was 8 years old and they had an asortment of game-used bats in a garbage can. I vividly remember Bonds being $150 and guys like Van Slyke being $100 ( I know this because I was BEGGING for a combination birthday XMas present from my grandmother!! haha) Needless to say I didnt end up with either, but after mowing the grass and doing other chores, I got my first ever game used item, an Al Pedrique game used bat for $20.....and I was the envy of my friends at the time!!

Still have that bat too!!