Baseball Players and their Game Used Items

[Oil Can Dan]

I was having lunch about two blocks from my house in Boston in 2004. Low and behold I notice Carlton Fisk sitting two tables down from me. I watch as two different people approach him for autographs then I decided to run home to get a 1972 Sports Illustrated that has him on the cover. I run home, run back, take a seat at my table and wait for him to finish eating, then once he's gotten and paid his check I approached him and tell him I'm a huge fan and ask if he wouldn't mind signing the SI for me. He says "oh, you just HAPPEN to have this on you, huh". I say "no, as I said I'm a big fan and this has been hanging on my wall un-signed for the last five years. I just ran home and got it". He says "whatever, I'm sure I'll see this on eBay in five minutes". He signed it, but it's not on my wall anymore. It's in an envelope in a desk drawer now. Screw Fisk.

[suave1477]

OilCan I can understand your dissapointment to hear something like that from an Athlete you really like, but you shouldn't take it personal. Look at it from his side. Here is this guy who pops up with a magzine of him and then you tell him the story you ran home to get it and came back. I am sure he heres that all the time from people. Who are looking to make a quick buck on ebay.

So dont take it personal!!

[Kid4hof03]

At the time of my Nettles experience I was a major collector of his stuff. I had a helmet, several Yankees jerseys and a load of bats. After meeting him my entire collection was sold within 30 days and I've never regretted it. I know Jason said not to take it personally, I really didn't but I did make the decision that I couldn't really enjoy the stuff after meeting and surely didn't want to ever go get another autograph.

Abe

[2000mvpfan]

......for a guy as popular as Nettles is with those of us who remember those late 70's and early 80's Yankees teams,he sure comes off as a grumpy old man at a lot of his appearances.Last year a buddy of mine and I saw him at a BC Sports in Woodbridge,NJ and even though there wasn't a huge crowd for him,he didn't utter a word...no hello,thanks,hi-nothing!Then he only reluctantly took a photo with my friend's son,and didn't look at all thrilled about it.
.......meanwhile,last time I saw Donnie Baseball,HE thanked ME for coming out to get his autograph.Donnie's definitely class all the way!


Joe

[Oil Can Dan]

OilCan I can understand your dissapointment to hear something like that from an Athlete you really like, but you shouldn't take it personal. Look at it from his side. Here is this guy who pops up with a magzine of him and then you tell him the story you ran home to get it and came back. I am sure he heres that all the time from people. Who are looking to make a quick buck on ebay.

So dont take it personal!!

The thing is, what's the alternative to my story? Do I carry around a 29 year old magazine with me at all times in case I bump into him or something? To be honest I really can't figure out where he was coming from with his comment. It seems pretty obvious to me that I had to have noticed him, then gone somewhere to collect the 1972 Sports Illustrated with him as a rookie on the cover, then come back. Just as I explained. And it seems pretty obvious to me that only a fan would have something like that at their disposal. So what was his point? I understand that a person may sell his autograph for profit, and I guess I could see how that could burn you up, but I don't understand the "oh you just HAPPEN to have this on you, huh" comment. Made no sense. And I did everything absolutely correct - I waited for him to finish his meal, pay his check and stand up to leave, apologized for interupting him, said please, etc. And I had a Sox hat on at thet time, too.

I've told that story to many people here in Boston and I've learned from others that Fisk is particularly ornary. No big deal, but truly disappointed me as I've always respected the heck out of how Carlton played the game and carried himself. There wasn't any need for him to be a dick. I'd have preferred he just didn't sign it, or that he signed it "To Dan", which would have been totally fine by me.

Now back to your regularly scheduled discussion - sorry for the hijack.

[fixter]

You guys may have figured out if you have read any of my other posts that I pretty much collect game used items from the Bell family exclusively. My experiences have all been very positive. But it may have much to do with the type of person that any given player chooses to be. I guess I am fortunate that the entire family has been top notch on every occasion I have had to meet them.

By far the best game used item experience I have had has been my "bat quest." I have a game used Gus Bell bat. I decided shortly after I got it that I wanted to have it signed by Buddy, David, Mike and Rick. I travelled to Spring Training this year in AZ, where I (and my bat) met Gus Bell's sister in the stands, got Buddy to sign it (one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed - he took it in his hands, extended it, looked down the barrel and said "Wow") and then 2 days later got Rick to sign it while we walked and talked so far I wound up in the restricted area when we finished. And to top it off a security guy saw me looking for a way to get out came over and helped me find my way because he wanted to see the bat he had heard the stories about being at the game 2 days earlier.

[metsbats]

I have 7 game used bats and 4 game used jerseys of 86 Met Ed Hearn and he told me I have more memoriablia from his playing days then he had. He's been over my home to see my collection of his game used stuff was very amused by it.

Gary Carter was pleasant when I showed him a photo of 4 bats he used to reach several milestones in his career (1500th hit, 900th RBI, 5 hrs in 2 days to tie MLB record, 250th home). His agent Mead Chasky said he remembered the bats and then proceeded to hand me his card and asked me to contact him if i wanted to sell them.

Fortunately I've never had a bad experience w/ players when showing them gamers however my gamers are mostly from the 80's Mets an era when players were n't out to make extra bucks marketing their stuff.

I 'm not surprised the modern day players react negatively to being presented their gamers given the way the teams and players market their gamers for resell.

David

[kylehess10]

Kylehess I think your missing the point the players are not mad bcuz they are having a bad day. I have run across that same problem a couple of times. The reason they are mad is bcuz from my opinion 2 reasons.
1) They feel slighted that you got something of theres and they didnt give it to you. ( "like how did you get that i didnt give it to you" )
2) There a bit annoyed becuz you got something of theres and they didnt see any money out of it.

I bet you if the Athlete himself sold that same item to you for $1000, he woulfd be like "Yeah sure ill take a picture with you, is your wife around tell her to get in the picture too"

Some guys are nice some are not.

Here is my experience - I had one athlete deny about 3 items i had of his were his. I know for a fact they were his, yet he denied it bcuz he was pissed he didnt get anything out of it.

I thought that the players ARE paid for their game used. I purchase most of my game used from ASI & ESM and someone from ESM once told me that all of their game used were purchased directly from the player.

[suave1477]

Kyle here is my take on items from those companies. I do beleive they purchase the items from the players. If you notice vertain player items constantly on there chances are they have made a deal with that player especially when they have LOAS showing a player signing items for them or an LOA signed by the player.

BUT!!! have you ever noticed they will have 1 item of a player that they never had before and most likely never will again. I think those items come from the players that they do deal with. Like maybe one of there contracted players happend to trade with a teamate or another player and they threw it into there batch of items that they sold to them. You notice with those items they issue a LOA just stating the players name and game used.
They do not include any photo of that player or include any letter signed by that player.

[sandman02910]

In response to Geoff's original post concerning Hanley Ramirez. I know Hanley has done signings with ASI and he has also give many many items to his former Clubhouse Manager. The items Geoff has came from both of those sources from me. I have met Hanley on about half a dozen instances and all were much less than positive dating from mid 04 through the end of 05. Sometimes he appears shy and others he seems just plain iggnorant. He could either be sitting in the stands early before a road game during a rain delay or getting off the team bus at an away game and he has snubbed fans each time. I could also go into many stories about what his teammates think of him but the purpose of this post is not to bash Hanley.
In Geoff's case Hanley did not even bother to find out what items he may have had. If they were ASI items or items he gave to his clubhouse manager why would he be upset. ASI paid him and the other items were gifts.
In many other instances I have had extremely positive eperiences with Jon Lester, Craig Hansen, Justin Morneau, Bronson Arroyo, Jason Bay, Jed Lowrie and above all Jonathan Papelbon. All of these players seemed very appreciative that someone was a big enough fan to collect their items. I have also had players ask me for certain items I was having them sign in exchange for other items. I have been lucky enough to actually start good relationships with players this way. I approached Jason Bay with a Game Used AA minor league jersey and he held it looking at it amazed it still existed. I would have to say in my experience a majority of players fall into this category but sadly there are the few like Nettles and Hanley that ultimately turn their fans away.