A jersey from the pinnacle moment of your favorite players career.

[gingi79]

This question is really geared toward player collectors but answers from team collectors would be interesting as well. At a family get together, I was asked by a group of people who don't collect anything, if I would trade my Sami Salo Collection for a jersey he wore in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals if the Vancouver Canucks won or my Matt Diaz Collection for a Diaz game worn from a Braves World Series victory. I had a hard time answering since either of those items will be in my collection if it even happens. I say this because MeiGray runs the Canucks Game Worn Program and Barry knows I want both the home and road of any Finals the Canucks play in. I also told everyone who will listen at the Braves that I want Diaz shirts from any World Series they play in.

But as a collector, would you trade all of your game worn jerseys for the shirt your player wore in the highlight of their career? Or for Bat collectors, would you trade every bat you own from your guy for the bat he used in every at bat in a world series he won? Or his 500th HR or 3000 hit?

Personally, if Sami Salo scores the goal to win the Cup for the Canucks, the jersey would be priceless to me. Your opinions?

[Swoboda4]

I think so. I would move a significant portion of the collection to make the exclamation point that that type of item would make.

[joelsabi]

This question is really geared toward player collectors but answers from team collectors would be interesting as well. At a family get together, I was asked by a group of people who don't collect anything, if I would trade my Sami Salo Collection for a jersey he wore in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals if the Vancouver Canucks won or my Matt Diaz Collection for a Diaz game worn from a Braves World Series victory. I had a hard time answering since either of those items will be in my collection if it even happens. I say this because MeiGray runs the Canucks Game Worn Program and Barry knows I want both the home and road of any Finals the Canucks play in. I also told everyone who will listen at the Braves that I want Diaz shirts from any World Series they play in.

But as a collector, would you trade all of your game worn jerseys for the shirt your player wore in the highlight of their career? Or for Bat collectors, would you trade every bat you own from your guy for the bat he used in every at bat in a world series he won? Or his 500th HR or 3000 hit?

Personally, if Sami Salo scores the goal to win the Cup for the Canucks, the jersey would be priceless to me. Your opinions?

if you're thinking of a signature item that will define you collection, i think it would be hard not to get the item. i would have to weigh the chances of getting comparable items in the future of the things i would give up to get such an item.

its would have to be a major upgrade tho. one item can make a collection if its a primo item. i just wonder how long it would take to accumulate a collection that would be as extensive as the collection was prior to acquiring the signature item.

to answer the question, yes you have to go for it. i would try to prioritize what items would i sell first in case it was not necessary to sell the entire collection to get the one significant item.

i would give up everything to have the jersey rodriguez wore on game 3 and 4 in the world series. i think if you are a passionate collection it would be a difficult decision. think of all the time and effort to get to this point.

[LWMM]

I probably would not, simply because the items that I already have are by and large unique and impossible to replace. The minor league jerseys I have of Jonny Gomes are one of a kind, and even the three MLB ones (from his 13 games in 2003 and 2004, when he wore #60) would be exceptionally hard to replace. I might be more willing to part with my bats of his, but even that would be with some reticence, for I would be hard pressed to find more early ones.

[GarkoCollector]

I'm gonna have to go with the group here.
I have Ryan Garko's jersey from his first and only at bat of 2005 when he was brought up by the Indians. Theres only 1 of them and could not be replaced should I have to move it. Going back further, I have the jersey he wore in the college World Series when he was named most outstanding catcher. Again, theres only 2-a home and an away. I have one and Garko has the other.

I dont see what someone could offer me collection wise that would make me trade these items. In the event I was in a dire need of money, I would move them, but otherwise, its something that I enjoy and has value to me. Generally, I would have to agree with js--if I was going to trade items from my collection, it would have to go toward a MAJOR upgrade. For me, there really wouldnt be one. For others that collect players with more significant milestones and achievements, those items are out there.

Tom

[TNTtoys]

Very subjective question but a good one nonetheless. For me, I would have to say it depends on who the player is.

Let's take 2 players I have been known to collect... John Olerud and Carlos Beltran. If you were to define the pinnacle moments of their careers (course Carlo is not done yet), you might say that Olerud's was in his 1993 season, where he won the batting title (after flirting with .400 for much of the season) and then went on to win a World Series ring. For Beltran, it doesn't get much better than the 2004 playoffs, where he ties a Major League record with 8 home runs. The probem with these two scenarios is that neither event happened when they were with my team, the Mets. I don't know if I would want to trade my Mets Beltran and Olerud jerseys for 1 Blue Jays and 1 Astros jersey.

Larger scale scenario. Take David Cone or Dwight Gooden. Pinnacle moments of their careers would have to be their perfect games... which were pitched as New York Yankees! I own Gooden's 1987 road and Cone's 1987 road. I don't think I could ever trade those (and considerable cash to boot) to own each player's Yankees jerseys.

But, those are examples of where I wouldn't. The answer would be obviously different if you were to ask me if I would consider trading my 1985 and 1987 Jesse Orosco jerseys (and considerable cash of course) for the exact jersey he wore on field when he recorded the final out of the 1986 World Series. That would be a no-brainer (if of course I had the cash to do it).

Just thought I'd throw in the other side of this argument for fun...

[karamaxjoe]

I primarily collect White Sox jerseys now, but I used to own a jersey from each team Bill Buckner played with.

It would have been a no brainer to trade all my Buckner jerseys for the one he wore on October 25th, 1986 in a stadium that no longer exists. We all know the ball, glove and spikes are in the hobby, but where is the jersey?

[godwulf]

I would love, for a number of good reasons, to own the bat Matt Williams used in Game 2 of the '01 WS...or any jersey that he wore in that Series. Either item would be the centerpiece, in my mind, of my Williams collection, and one of the very best items in my collection as a whole.

However, I have, at this point, more than two dozen of Matty's bats, from throughout his career, nearly all of them signed for me by Matty as we talked about each one, and I have a jersey from each of his three Major League teams, as well as two of the jerseys he wore as a minor league manager. Cumulatively, that's just too many cool things to give up.

[Jags Fan Dan]

Being a Brunell collector, I wouldn't trade all of my jerseys for the one he wore in his biggest game (Broncos playoff upset in 1997-1998) because I own several cool jerseys of his, including the one he ranked his #4 favorite game, which was the Jags first ever Monday night game when he came back from what had looked to be a season ending knee injury and led the Jags to victory over the Steelers.

[xpress34]

Five items come to mind for me personally that I would have to seriously consider moving stuff to obtain:

#5) Matt Holliday's 2007 ASG GU Home Run Derby Jersey

#4 & #3) Nolan Ryan's Mets GU Flannel (either '66 - his 1st appearance or '69 WS)

#2) Nolan Ryan's GU Jersey from his LAST Start

#1) The infamous 'bloody' jersey from Bo Jackson's come-backer to the mound.

Pieces I would have a hard time moving would be:

Matt Holliday GU ST Jersey from Spring 2000. His 1st MLB Spring Training and the ONLY jersey issued to him for ST that year - irreplaceable.

Matt Holliday GU AS Jersey from 2006 ASG BP. His 1st ASG appearance and the 'other' one (they make two BP's per player) was purchased and cut up by Topps for their All Star Stitches / Patches insert in 2006 Topps Update - again, irreplaceable.

Matt Holliday GU WS Cap (Purple Bill) from 2007 WS. His 1st WS appearance and PER Matt himself, the ONLY Purple billed cap he wore for the entre series (Rox wore all black one game and Alt w/ Purple the other three) - also irreplaceable.

Nolan Ryan AU Bat that I cumstomed made when working for Rawlings. Hand turned maple and I laid out and did the engraving myself.

The last one doesn't really fit in my collection (I'm a baseball guy), but can't move it for purely sentimental/emotional reasons... 2003/04 DJ Smith GU Avalanche Jersey. Bought from the Pepsi Center during NHL strike of 04/05 to give to my dad (whose name was DJ Smith) as kind of a gag - he didn't follow hockey - on his birthday. Unfortunately he passed before I could give the jersey to him... it's been hanging on my jersey rack since then.

Looking forward to reading more from others.

- Chris