The Kansas City Royals game used thread

[CampWest]

2015 Mike Moustakas, photo matched to games between 9/16 and 9/19. Mike hit season home run #19 on the 16th and #20 on the 19th.

[TBM]

At the 2016 Royals Fan Fest I was able to pick up this great hat. I found this Johnny Cueto hat that has very heavy use. This hat must have been Johnny Cueto’s favorite hat while he was with the Royals. I have been able to photo match it to seven different starts. The first start that Johnny made for the Royals was at the end of July in Toronto where he would get a no decision. That had was sold on MLB Auctions along with his skull cap. His jersey was also sold at the same time in another MLB Auction. While going through all the hats at Fan Fest I also found 3 other Johnny Cueto hats witch would fill some of the gaps when this hat was not used. I believe he started 13 games while with the Royals, during the regular season, and used this hat for over half of them.


August 5, 2015 – Loss – 7 IP-5 Hits-2 ER-2 SO-2 BB:
This hat started its run with his second start for the Royals on August 5 against the Tigers in Detroit, where he would get the loss after giving up only 2 Earned Runs.


August 10, 2015 – Win-9 IP-4 Hits-0 ER-8 SO-0 BB:
He would then wear the hat again in his first Royals home game start against the Tigers on August 10. He would throw a 4-0 complete game shutout in that first home start at Kauffman Stadium. He would also be drenched with one of Salvador Perez’s Gatorade cooler soakings while still wearing this hat.


August 15, 2015 – Win-8 IP-8 Hits-1 ER-4 SO-0 BB:
On August 15 he would wear the hat for the third time pitching against the Angels at Kauffman Stadium. He would give up Albert Pujols 31st Home Run of the season.


August 21, 2015 – Loss-6 IP-13 Hits-6 ER-3 SO-0 BB:
This game was in Boston against the Red Sox. He would give up the first Home Run of the season to J. Rutledge.


August 26, 2015 – Loss-5 IP-8 Hits-6 ER-8 SO-1 BB:
At Kauffman Stadium against the Orioles he would give up three Home Runs and take the loss. Home Runs given up to Manny Machado (26), J. Schoop (10), and Chris Davis (35).


September 1st to September 18 Johnny would wear other hats or there is not enough detail in the pictures to say this was the hat he wore.


September 24, 2015 – Win- 7 IP-7 Hits-3 ER-5 SO-2 BB:
Johnny started to wear the hat again at home in Kauffman Stadium against the Mariners. Johnny would lead the Royals to their first AL Central Division title in this game.


September 29, 2015 – Loss-6 IP-8 Hits-3 ER-2 SO-2 BB:
Johnny would wear the hat for the final time in Chicago facing off against the White Sox. He would give up a Home Run to Adam Eaton.


These are the games that I have been able to photo match the hat to. I believe he wore the hat during other games but cannot, at this time, 100% say so. There were not many pictures of Johnny during some of the other games and some of the pictures were not good enough to see much detail in the hat.


All told this hat saw at least seven starts with a total record of:
3 Wins – 4 Losses
48 Innings Pitched
53 Hits
21 Earned Runs
32 Strike Outs
7 Walks
1 Complete game shutout
Gave up 4 Home Runs

I think this was an awesome pick up!!


I tried to make a collage out of all the pictures but some did not come out as detailed as the source pictures, but it is not bad. Not shown in the pictures - this is a Size 8 hat!!

[TBM]

CampWest, Those are some awesome jerseys!!

[TBM]

Sportsnbikes,

I still can't believe how lucky you are with those World series bats. That was an incredible find.

[Dewey2007]

Any KC collectors out there also season ticket holders? I'm looking for a digital ticket (or box office ticket) from the 9/6/15 game vs the White Sox since the team doesn't print hard copy season tickets anymore. If anyone can help me out I'd greatly appreciate it. I have a jersey and lineup card from this game and would like have a ticket from the game too if possible.

I can be reached at: deweystgermaine AT gmail DOT com

Thanks!

[sportsnbikes]

Sportsnbikes,

I still can't believe how lucky you are with those World series bats. That was an incredible find.

I don't understand it. I guess it's more so due to watching hours of footage from the World Series and getting lucky in that the authenticators didn't grab the right pieces.

[TBM]

Here is another hat that I purchased at Royals Fan Fest. I did not think I had any hopes of photo matching this one. Got really lucky that there was a nice close up of this hat.

Game Used Ben Zobrist hat from September 5, 2015, White Sox at Royals. This was an off day for Zobrist as he did not play at all. However I believe that most players do not use a hat for a single game. Ben did play in the game prior to and after this game, both against the White Sox and all three were losses. I could not find a picture that I could positively match to Ben wearing this hat in any other game besides that off day but am fairly certain that he would have. The back of the hat has a good amount of dirt on it that does not show up well in the pictures.

I was able to match this hat to a photo on Getty Images. It has a mark on the bill of the hat that I have highlighted in red and a loose thread between the bill and the hat panels that I have highlighted in yellow. I have also provided a picture of the entire front of the hat that shows both the thread and the mark on the bill.

Hat size is 7 1/4 inches and Ben's number 18 and initials BZ are visible on the inside of the hat.

[ferro39]

just out of curiosity, what were the prices on jerseys at the fan fest?

[TBM]

On the first day They started out at around $100 to $300. On the second day I saw them get marked down to $25 to $300. They may have been marked down more after I left. The MLB authentication on them was as team issued but there was some good use on quite a few of them. Highest prices for the core players while the lower prices were for coaches, minor leaguers, and guys no longer with the team. I've seen a ton of them show up on EBay this past week. Hope this helps.

[TBM]

One of my recent pick ups. Got this Ryan Madson GU jersey from the Royals Authentic's store. It was authenticated as being used in Games 1,2 and 6 of the ALCS. I have also photo-matched it to being used in games 1 and 2 of the ALDS as well as multiple times in the regular season. I have included Photos that I belive are 100% photo-matched. I think there was at least one other regular season game it was used in but I am not 100% sure on. The jersey features a loose hanging thread in the left arm pit that is noticeable when he is pitching. Also the very tip of the line under Royals on the front of the jersey is sewn in to well that it creates a dimple in the jersey that is noticeable when he is standing or pitching. Lastly there is a pulled thread on the back of the jersey right to the left of the number 6. In photos taken from the back side this pulled thread is clearly visible. I'm happy to finally have a Post Season Game Used Jersey in my collection.