Minor League Equipment Use...

[AutographAddiction]

Does anyone know how many or how often game jerseys are given out to MINOR League players?

What about gloves and bats?

I was wondering if the team provided the bats and gloves or if it came out of the young players pocket...

I'm interested in heading down to a single A team for the Houston Astros and trying to get some game-used stuff from players. But if they are only given 1 glove and 1 jersey of each color per year, well then there is no use. haha, any info on how the equipment is dealt out in the Minor Leagues is appreciated. Has anyone ever gotten game-used Minor league stuff?


THANKS!

[OaklandAsFan]

Not sure I have ever been to a single A ball game so I can't tell you exactly but I do know that in the rookie ball league here in AZ the players have to sign for all their equipment and if they break a bat they need to bring back the broken one to get a new one so they can't give them away.

[AutographAddiction]

Interesting... Well, where I live in the past I have gotten bats from the batboy but never tried for jerseys or anything directly from a player. And I havent been to a game in 6 years so I dont know how its changed...

[jmwill82]

I used to work for in the clubhouse for the Trenton Thunder and the team would pay for only a portion of the bats that they ordered. Jerseys had to be turned in at the end of the year, however usually the team would give each player one jersey to keep (home/away/alt). Most of the players had contracts with the major cleat/glove/bag companies. When a bat would break it was usually just given back to the player after the game which would then end up in the trash. Hope some of this information helps!

[AutographAddiction]

I used to work for in the clubhouse for the Trenton Thunder and the team would pay for only a portion of the bats that they ordered. Jerseys had to be turned in at the end of the year, however usually the team would give each player one jersey to keep (home/away/alt). Most of the players had contracts with the major cleat/glove/bag companies. When a bat would break it was usually just given back to the player after the game which would then end up in the trash. Hope some of this information helps!

So the key for "easy pickups" would be trying to get broken bats or asking a batboy for anything of that sort. What about balls? When I was young I could get up to 10 balls a game( foul balls, HR balls, but mostly BP balls from players) but I have heard of friends my age (16) who had no luck when asking players. What was the situation about the balls and how much were available? Thanks!

[jmwill82]

In Trenton, the bat boys were instructed to always give the broken bats back to the players. Usually they would just drop them off in the player's locker. Your best bat is waiting for the players when leaving the stadium. As far as the baseballs go, they were tough for the fans to get. The bat boys would never give them out and they would always stay in the equipment room and used for BP.

[AutographAddiction]

In Trenton, the bat boys were instructed to always give the broken bats back to the players. Usually they would just drop them off in the player's locker. Your best bat is waiting for the players when leaving the stadium. As far as the baseballs go, they were tough for the fans to get. The bat boys would never give them out and they would always stay in the equipment room and used for BP.

good isea. happen to know anything about batting gloves?

[dcgreg25]

As far as jerseys my experience is that most teams issue one set of jerseys that are used throughout the year. I purchased a bunch of Buffalo Bisons jerseys when the team switched affiliations from the Indians to the mets. All of the COA's described the jerseys as being game used in 2007 and 2008 by multiple players that used them during the two-year period.

[AWA85]

From my experience with minor league teams, some of them reuse jerseys for more then one year. While some sell the jerseys after each season. With how the game used industry has expanded you would think this would be the best idea, as some of the organizations make a killing off of the jerseys. All and all, no real luck getting a jersey from a player would be my guess.

Little odds and ends such as a broken bat or batting glove depends on if you can strike up conversation with the player.

[godwulf]

Team end-of-season auctions aside, I've found obtaining Minor League jerseys to be a fairly expensive prospect. I bought a couple of home jerseys from the DBacks' high-A team last year for $200 each, and will probably do the same this year; the club official that I'm dealing with assures me that this is their actual replacement cost.

Hey, on the subject, does anyone live near Charleston, SC and want to go to the September 3rd Riverdogs game and bid on a jersey for me? Greg Colbrunn is their skipper, and they're auctioning off jerseys that night and I would really like to get his. I'm still working on finding out in what format the auction is going to take place, but chances are that I'm going to need somebody there to be my proxy. Win or lose, I'll buy your ticket and refreshments!