Baseball Players and their Game Used Items

[Swoboda4]

Moral of the story:Take your picture with the player first-THEN tell him you have his game used stuff. Otherwise he'll believe the picture is being used to authenticate future sales. Fisk is OK,he was just taken a little by surprise at the restaurant with the magazine request and like a lot of older players err on the side of suspicion. Remember they're(older players) ALL pissed off they didn't get paid like players today so don't worry about it. Don't get upset that these guys aren't perfect-don't let it ruin your love of the game.

[geoff]

Great thought all.I never told Hanley when and where i got those items and he just did not care.

[GrndSlm]

I guess these situations happen all the time. Back in 1983, I had a game used Eddie Murray bat and asked him to sign it in spring training. Well, he took one look at it and took it from me. He walked right into the clubhouse and left it in his locker. He then passed right by me into his rental car and left the stadium. I was 14 years old......

[earlywynnfan]

I guess these situations happen all the time. Back in 1983, I had a game used Eddie Murray bat and asked him to sign it in spring training. Well, he took one look at it and took it from me. He walked right into the clubhouse and left it in his locker. He then passed right by me into his rental car and left the stadium. I was 14 years old......

Wow, that's funny! Sorry it happened, though; I've heard he's, uh, jerky.

Phil Niekro was impressed as heck that I had one of his bats.

Al Oliver took his gamer, stood up and took a few swings, and said "I think it still has some hits left in it!" That was way cool, and I felt like a bigshot to everyone else behind me in line.

I was having a conversation with Vern Fuller and told him I was bidding on a bat of his but got beat out. He said "Why the H*ll would you want that?? I bet it didn't show any use; I never hit anything." He was kidding -- he is really a nice guy.

Reggie Jax looked his bat over very carefully and signed it "gamer" at my request, which was very nice. On the other hand, he wouldn't shake my hand or look me in the eye. He probably thinks it went to auction the next day, but the joke's on him: it's still displayed on my wall!

(I don't want to take potshots at Jax, Fisk, or any other pro athlete for thinking this; how would it feel to watch people constantly make money off of you? And I don't chalk that up to greed on the player's part, either. I got the nicest baseball signed by Hilly Lane (quick, who can identify him??) and he included a nice letter and extras. On the bottom, he wrote "PLEASE don't sell this." I felt really embarrassed, even though I never had any intention of selling it.)

Sorry for the rant,
Ken

[Utopian2630]

I remember being no older than 12 and approached Terry Pendleton at the team hotel with a game used bat I bought at a card show months earlier. He grabbed the bat, examined the bat by nearly taking a check swing and then began curse me out saying "you stole my f-ing bat"..."how did you steal my f-ing bat"...I told him that I bought it at a card show to which he replied "car show my a--". So when my dad saw me getting berated by Pendleton, he stepped in basically telling him to lay off and that I was just a kid who bought this bat at a card show. Pendleton then tells my dad he's a bad father for allowing his son to have stolen goods. It never really escalated and he ended up signing the bat anyway. That was the only bad experience I've ever had getting game used items signed. I once got an aluminum stick from Gretzky after a morning skate and years later at a golf tournament my mother was on medical staff at, I ended up meeting him and showed him the stick. He signed it beautifully, with a great lengthy inscription wishing me well in school and dated it.

Thought I'd give 2 different extremes of my experiences.

[Yankwood]

(I don't want to take potshots at Jax, Fisk, or any other pro athlete for thinking this; how would it feel to watch people constantly make money off of you? And I don't chalk that up to greed on the player's part, either. I got the nicest baseball signed by Hilly Lane (quick, who can identify him??) and he included a nice letter and extras. On the bottom, he wrote "PLEASE don't sell this." I felt really embarrassed, even though I never had any intention of selling it.)

Sorry for the rant,
Ken

Hilly Lane didn't want you to sell it? Hilly Lane? I'm sure you're going to get flooded with requests for it now that everyone here knows you have it. Who the hell is Hilly Lane? When I was a kid, a friend of mine lived on a street that ran perpendicular to Hilly Lane. So, like, who is Hilly Lane, seriously.

I once stood in line waiting for Willie Mays to sign an old Adirondack bat of his. I had heard all the "horror" stories about Mays and I was somewgat guarded while waiting to meet him. As the usual things passed before him, the promoter handed him the bat I brought. He literally stood up and took a few short swings with it. He asked who brought it, and the promoter pointed me out. I was waiting for the worst. Instead, all he said was, "Y'know, I never kept anything like this from when I played." And then he talked a little while he signed it. Very nice.
Later, as I was walking around the place looking at everyone else's stuff, the promoter came up to me and told me he had a request from "Mr. Mays" to offer me $1000 for the bat. I respectfully declined and told him I had just purchased the bat for $600 (obviously that was a while back, huh?) and that I intended on keeping it forever (I didn't).
The bat in question was a model 282C. I have seen many times in bat discussions the "C" bat topic come up. When Willie looked at the knob he said,"282C, man, I used a ton of these for a while". Now, maybe he thought he did and was mistaken but I don't believe it by the way he said it. These guys know their bats, I believe. Anyway, this doesn't make the "C" Adirondack bat model controversy any clearer but I DO believe some of them were used by major leaguers. Stick to Louisvilles, I guess.

[allstarsplus]

Greatest experience would be with Cal Ripken Jr. He definitely knows his own stuff as he will take the time to inspect a bat or jersey and discuss the item and whether the item was used by him and will give an opinion either way.

He will even give an opinion sometimes on premium items on his personal suggestion on what type of pen he should use for signing. If he picks up the gold paint pen----he likes it!

[Swoboda4]

Utopian2630's bad experience with Pendleton and Yankwood's fortunate encounter with Mays is the best authentication in the world. When players are moved to jumping out of their seats and sizing up an item,in these cases a bat,you should be very,very happy. Forget when the encounter is rough,you just hit the autentication jackpot.

[geoff]

I have a game used Brian Roberts bat that i got from ESM on ebay a while back.I am going to a Roberts signing on monday night at a local store.I think i am going to bring my bat for him to look at.I hope he does not get mad at me and take it like that Eddie story.I will let you know if he was a nice guy or a mean young ballplayer.Geoff

[bigtime59]

I have a game used Brian Roberts bat that i got from ESM on ebay a while back.I am going to a Roberts signing on monday night at a local store.I think i am going to bring my bat for him to look at.I hope he does not get mad at me and take it like that Eddie story.I will let you know if he was a nice guy or a mean young ballplayer.Geoff

Geoff:
I will be very interested in your experience with BRob. I presented him with one of his Rochester Redwings minor league jerseys to sign at the Orioles Summer Fanfest 2003 (at least I think it was '03). When I presented it to sign, I said, "I expect it's the last time you'll see one of these." He looked pissed, and didn't say a word.
Now, I'm in my 40s, and look it--especially on a softball field(!)-- so, perhaps, he thought I was a dealer. But, still, I went to the trouble to buy the thing from the Redwings, and stand in line for him to sign it.

By contrast, Eric DuBose, when presented with his Midland Rockhounds jersey at the Baltimore Fanfest in 2005, smiled, said he remembered Midland, and seemed happy to sign the jersey.

Of course, BRob is now the O's starting second baseman, and DuBose is mired in AA ball...could that have had something to do with their reactions?