show us your 01 Pujols rookie bats

[onlyalbert]

Not a bat, but I have these two Albert 'Rookie' pieces:

GU/AU 2001 Cardinals Cap:



and - although NOT GU, probably about as rare as they come - a ROY inscribed Ball that Albert did for me when he came to Nike in early 2002. I know there are the 'new' ROY balls done by Steiner, but I have as yet to see another 'vintage' Pujols AU and ROY inscribed ball. I have only seen his 'vintage' AU w/ ROY inscription on GU Bats, Hats, Cleats, Jerseys and undershirts.



All the best -

Smitty

Love that ball Smitty!

[onlyalbert]

What would be the asking price or a bat like this IF you ever had to move it

Hey 5Tool, there's a line on that bat too.....and I'm in front!

[xpress34]

Love that ball Smitty!

OnlyAlbert -

Thanks!!!

So, outside the 'new' Steiner ROY balls, have you ever seen another TRUE 'vintage' ROY Pujols ball?

I've been looking for the last 9 years (It was April 2002 when that was signed - StL was one of the 1st teams in town that year) and have as yet to see another.

As I said earlier, the only other 'vintage' Pujols ROY inscriptions I have seen have been on GU items (Bats, Hats, Jerseys, etc).

About 6 years ago a guy on eBay had a Pujols ROY inscribed ball listed - no picture though. He was a Power Seller with like 12,000+ feedback and like 1,000 items listed at any time - ALL with pictures - but told me his camera was broken and couldn't get me pictures of this one item... sounded kind of fishy to me!!!

I almost traded it back in 2002 - at the time, I figured Albert would be signing ROY all year long - but I quickly found out that he was rarely doing Sweet Spots in person, and no one that I talked to had ever seen him do an ROY inscription on a ball...

I would be interested in your (and any other Pujols collectors) input on my question about the existence of other 'vintage' (early) Pujols ROY AU baseballs... I'm fairly certain that my example is very if not extremely rare. Not worth as much as an Albert bat, but I'm not complaining for the cost of an MLB ball ($10 in 2002!).

- Smitty

[onlyalbert]

OnlyAlbert -

Thanks!!!

So, outside the 'new' Steiner ROY balls, have you ever seen another TRUE 'vintage' ROY Pujols ball?

I've been looking for the last 9 years (It was April 2002 when that was signed - StL was one of the 1st teams in town that year) and have as yet to see another.

As I said earlier, the only other 'vintage' Pujols ROY inscriptions I have seen have been on GU items (Bats, Hats, Jerseys, etc).

About 6 years ago a guy on eBay had a Pujols ROY inscribed ball listed - no picture though. He was a Power Seller with like 12,000+ feedback and like 1,000 items listed at any time - ALL with pictures - but told me his camera was broken and couldn't get me pictures of this one item... sounded kind of fishy to me!!!

I almost traded it back in 2002 - at the time, I figured Albert would be signing ROY all year long - but I quickly found out that he was rarely doing Sweet Spots in person, and no one that I talked to had ever seen him do an ROY inscription on a ball...

I would be interested in your (and any other Pujols collectors) input on my question about the existence of other 'vintage' (early) Pujols ROY AU baseballs... I'm fairly certain that my example is very if not extremely rare. Not worth as much as an Albert bat, but I'm not complaining for the cost of an MLB ball ($10 in 2002!).

- Smitty

I have seen just a few "new" sigs with the ROY but yours is the only vintage one I've ever seen. And not too many on other items as well. Would be interested in it if it ever became available.

[hdavid_27]

The Cardinals BP Jersey I posted was Signed at the Cardinals Winter Warm Up held in January 2002. At the time I think it was $35 or $50 for albert to sign something. I drove all over looking for a retail authentic jersey, and the BP jersey was as close as I could get. That was before they set the rule to where you could only have Albert sign balls and flats. I have not seen many ROY items, But I do have 2 BP jerseys signed in January 2002, both with the ROY inscription.

[rj_lucas]

What would be the asking price or a bat like this IF you ever had to move it

At this point, it's probably the one item I would not sell regardless of price, so that I can hand it down to my son. It's not about the money as much as preserving a small piece of history that we have a personal connection to.

It'll probably end up as one of those items that drops out of sight for 50-60 years until some great-grandchild throws it into an auction

Rick
rickjlucas@gmail.com

[rj_lucas]

I have seen just a few "new" sigs with the ROY but yours is the only vintage one I've ever seen. And not too many on other items as well. Would be interested in it if it ever became available.

Ditto. Interesting note on the ball, one of the 'tells' confirming it was signed in early 2002 is the apostrophe on the right side of the year (01').

Albert did that for a period beginning in early 2002 at the suggestion of Mark McGwire, who did the same thing. It was one of the 'tricks' they used to authenticate their items, along with dots and other markings. Albert has used different markings over the years for this purpose.

Rick
rickjlucas@gmail.com

[xpress34]

Ditto. Interesting note on the ball, one of the 'tells' confirming it was signed in early 2002 is the apostrophe on the right side of the year (01').

Albert did that for a period beginning in early 2002 at the suggestion of Mark McGwire, who did the same thing. It was one of the 'tricks' they used to authenticate their items, along with dots and other markings. Albert has used different markings over the years for this purpose.

Rick
rickjlucas@gmail.com

Rick -

Thanks for that info. The funny thing about the autograph is that at that time, I was doing Loss Prevention for Nike, so I got to hang out with a ton of athletes that came to the store for their 'comps' while in town for games... MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA... yet most of the employees at the Denver store could have cared less if it wasn't an NFL or NBA player.

When Albert came in, I knew who he was immediately and introduced myself. I got to hang out with him on and off over about a 3-4 hour period while he shopped around the store. When he was done, and was going to check out, I was clear to go to lunch. Luckily the Rockies had just moved their downtown Denver Dugout Store across the street from Nike (it use to be about 15 blocks away), so I went over and bought an MLB ball and came back and waited outside the store for Albert to exit - we were strictly forbidden from asking for auto's while on the clock or inside the store.

When Albert came out, I held up the ball and asked if it was okay and he told me 'absolutely'. He took the ball and signed it just as you see - I did not ask for sweet spot, # or ROY, he just put it all on there. We shook hands and he was on his way. It was a purely 1 on 1 signing moment as no one else either knew or cared who he was at the time.

As far as value on the ball? Kind of like your bat - not sure that I ever want to sell it, but the more I ask and search, the more and more that it appears to be a 1 of a kind Pujols ROY inscribed ball.

A guy I use to deal with in St Louis years ago (before I was on GUU) had made me a standing offer of around $2k for it in early 2005. he told me then how scarce and rare the inscription was - particularly on a non GU item, especially a ball. Obviously I turned it down.

Down the road, it could be one of those extremely rare items that my son or grandkids or whoever decide to put up for auction... but for now, I have no plans of sending it anywhere anytime soon.

Now that I've taken up enough space on my ball in a thread made for bats - bat to your regularly scheduled thread...

All the best -

Smitty

[shoremen44]

a little late to the Party... been busy...

here is my 2001 Rookie Pujols Sam bat... manuf date 5-24-01

[onlyalbert]

a little late to the Party... been busy...

here is my 2001 Rookie Pujols Sam bat... manuf date 5-24-01

One of my favorites!