1995 Ripken All-Star Jersey

[RobSteinmetz]

Anyone have any thoughts on the '95 Cal Ripken, Jr. All-Star jersey currently listed on eBay? If legit, this could be one of the most important Ripken shirts on the market...worn in the All-Star Game during his 2131 season. Seller states in the Q&A section that he's hoping to get $12,000 for it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=014

[hblakewolf]

Rob-
Although it may be the real thing, how can one even possibly consider buying it without being able to see the front/tagging? Likewise, how can you be certain that this is the jersey that was originally purchased from the Alll Star gamew (i.e., maybe it's the original LOA, however not the same shirt). Unless there's a way to inspect the front, I'd pass.

I'll contact the seller with my request.

I had the same situation recently with a 1983 Carlton Phillies jersey. Great looking jersey from the back, however, the seller was not willing to open the frame and allow inspection of the front/tagging.

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

[kingjammy24]

i concur with howo regarding the tagging issue. $12k and they can't take it out of the frame? mlb letter or not, how can anyone, including a ripken expert, fork over any amount of money without seeing the front and the tagging? for all anyone knows it could have a retail tag in the front.

anyway, i'm always a little leery when i see an allstar, world series, or other important shirt for sale because i wonder why it's not in the player's own collection. i understand that most players don't care about a regular season shirt, but i'd think many would want to keep something like a world series jersey. i understand that many legit all-star and world series shirts have made their way into the market but as a general rule of thumb, i'd want to the provenance to be much more solid than i'd expect for a regular season gamer simply due to the increased likelihood that the player would've kept the item for themselves.

regarding the specific mlb letter/program mentioned in the ebay ad, i once had an all-star tell me that he and several of his all-star teammates deliberately had duplicates made up of their all-star jerseys prior to the game because they knew the mlb rep would come to collect the gamers and they wanted to keep their allstar shirts. he said that when they got in the clubhouse after the game, they quickly pulled a switch and gave the mlb rep the duplicates. the mlb rep arrived in the clubhouse after the game and had no idea what went down. oddly enough i also once read an account by an mlb rep who was charged with collecting pieces after an all-star game and he noted that the pieces he collected were sweat-laden and that after only 1 day in a storage bag, smelled horrendous. i suppose some players keep their pieces and some don't. who knows what ripken did in 1995. just a word of warning when acquiring historically significant pieces.

rudy.

[hblakewolf]

I asked the seller of this jersey if it's possible to see the tagging.

Here's the reply:
Q:Hello- Can you send me a photo of the front of the shirt and specifically the tagging in the tail? Thanks. Howard Wolf Dec-20-06A:I'm sorry but the jersey is set in the frame front side down. The back of the frame is sealed with brown paper. I would rather not tamper with the original packaging. Again sorry. If there is anything else I can help you with, please let me know. Chele

What type of serious collector would even consider bidding without a clue to the tagging on this?

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmewdia.net

[suave1477]

Howard I agree with you a 100% no doubt about it before you make such a huge purchase like that you want to do your homework.

BUT look at it from his side also as a seller (assuming the Jersey is real) he wants to sell it as close to its original state as possible to get the best premium high bid he can get on it - in the same token it will also harm getting bids from the serious collector but he is probably not looking at it from a Collecting standpoint, but a Selling standpoint.

Just my 2 cents.

[nickacs]

Imagine what you can find when you 'Search' for something haha...

The current Higgins & Scott auction looks like it has the same Ripken '95 All-Star jersey from the discussions in this thread. Of course the Ebay link doesn't work, but sounds like it since the offered auction jersey is in a sealed case, face down with MLB paperwork.

I was curious if anyone has any pics/actual '95 AS game footage to photomatch the two dirt stains on the top left shoulder area just to see if this is legit or not. I am very interested in bidding on the jersey, but as the previous posts have said, I would want to see the tagging before I place a bid and "hope for the best".

Thanks!

[hugginsandscottauctions]

We have received a few serious inquiry's into the authenticity of this jersey. The questions raised were valid and this thread also led us to the conclusion that removing this jersey from the frame to view the front of the jersey and see the tagging was important. We received authorization from the consignor to do so and have removed it from the frame. Here are the findings:

A second "ORIGINAL" LOA on MLB letterhead was also inside of the frame. The contents of the letter was similar to the "ORIGINAL" LOA that was shown on the front, signed by Gene Budig. The second LOA was signed by Donald Fehr.

There is a "95" year tag sewn to under the Russell Authentic Diamond Collection Size 48 tag.

There is the strip of velcro sewn between the 2nd and 3rd buttons on the front of the jersey.

There is staining on the front of the jersey.

Based on the findings, we are 100% confident that this jersey is in fact THE single jersey that Cal Ripken Jr. wore in the 1995 All Star Game. We have added images to the description of the front of the jersey and shown images of the original letters on MLB letter head, that accompany this jersey. If there are any other questions, please don't hesitate to email or call us.

Thanks
Josh Wulkan
Vice President
Huggins and Scott Auctions
www.hugginsandscott.com
1-866-462-2273

[sportscentury]

We have received a few serious inquiry's into the authenticity of this jersey. The questions raised were valid and this thread also led us to the conclusion that removing this jersey from the frame to view the front of the jersey and see the tagging was important. We received authorization from the consignor to do so and have removed it from the frame. Here are the findings:

A second "ORIGINAL" LOA on MLB letterhead was also inside of the frame. The contents of the letter was similar to the "ORIGINAL" LOA that was shown on the front, signed by Gene Budig. The second LOA was signed by Donald Fehr.

There is a "95" year tag sewn to under the Russell Authentic Diamond Collection Size 48 tag.

There is the strip of velcro sewn between the 2nd and 3rd buttons on the front of the jersey.

There is staining on the front of the jersey.

Based on the findings, we are 100% confident that this jersey is in fact THE single jersey that Cal Ripken Jr. wore in the 1995 All Star Game. We have added images to the description of the front of the jersey and shown images of the original letters on MLB letter head, that accompany this jersey. If there are any other questions, please don't hesitate to email or call us.

Thanks
Josh Wulkan
Vice President
Huggins and Scott Auctions
www.hugginsandscott.com
1-866-462-2273

If I wanted to aggressively go after this piece, I would first see if it photomatched (there appears to be one Getty image of Cal in the 1995 All Star game):
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/51687162/AFP
I don't know what the quality of the full-sized image is, but there sure are a lot of unique identification characteristics shown on the jersey in the H&S auction.

[Sonny25]

Why not just watch a copy of the game?

There's numerous baseball game collectors out there that would have a copy of this game on DVD.

[sportscentury]

Why not just watch a copy of the game?

There's numerous baseball game collectors out there that would have a copy of this game on DVD.

If you have access to a good copy and can video-match to the same degree of accuracy, great. Regardless of photo-match or video-match, the point was that I would want a match before getting into what is likely going to be a bidding war for this rare Ripken shirt.