Cal Ripken Fielders Glove Bought for a "Song" on eBay

[hblakewolf]

Dave O'Brien-

Can you possibly comment on the photo below?




It is from the September 14, 2007 Heritage Auction catalog ad in SCD that shows the exact same glove as the one in this thread! After speaking with Chris Ivy at Heritage, he confirms that the glove is the exact same glove as the one you purchased on ebay! Right down to the hologram from Online Authentics that was mentioned in the Ebay listing!

When I questioned you less than an hour ago on this glove, you replied ,Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 366


Re: Derek Jeter 2002 Jersey/pants For Sale
Howard,

I would think that a pair of home white pinstripes with Yankee/Steiner provenance regardless of year would bring more than a pair of road grey no provenance. I thought I would point it out to you, no need to get defensive and try and switch subjects! No update for you on the glove, but stay tuned.

Regards,
Dave


According to Chris Ivy, he will investigate and take appropriate action.

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

[CollectGU]

Howard,

It is the same glove, and I can simply tell you that it has been confirmed by Bob Clevenhagen, the actual maker of these gloves, that there is not a problem with the lining as was originally noted on the forum.

Regards,

Dave

[3arod13]

Wow, this is amazing. It's getting to the point if you don't have a video of the player actually handing you the GU item and stating information about it, then it's always going to be questionable.

Opinions aren't as solid as they were in the past with the many errors even made by some of the more knowledgeable experts lately (not to say that's the case in this matter).

Truly, truly sad.

Regards, Tony

[kingjammy24]

while i don't know a thing about gloves, there's something in all of this that's a little worrisome: the fact that ripken has come out and stated he "has all of his fielding gloves except one "backup gamer" that he gave to a little kid and one that was stolen in Kansas City." ( http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_f...ead.php?t=9795 )

given ripken's admission, i can't understand how a buyer could have any serious confidence without a photomatch or rock-solid provenance. until ripken's shown to have either lied or been mistaken, i have to think he's probably the best authority on the supply of his legit gamers. esken or clevenhagen can opine on whether a glove matches ripken's specs but that's only half the equation. all it does is confirm that the glove was made to ripken's specs, which isn't the same thing as saying it was made specifically for ripken. it's even further away from saying it was used by ripken. when you've got a handful of people out there claiming to have a ripken game-used glove and ripken himself stating he has all of them except one, then something's amiss.

anyway, dave i have to admit i'm curious why you chose to consign the glove to heritage instead of AMI, given that you have a relationship with the latter?

rudy.

[kingjammy24]

It's getting to the point if you don't have a video of the player actually handing you the GU item and stating information about it, then it's always going to be questionable.

to an extent, yes. however i think this case is unique because ripken has stated he has all of his gamers except for one, yet there are a handful of people out there claiming to have ripken game-used gloves.

you rarely get players publically discussing what they have and what they don't. if you do though, i have to think it's valuable information that should be considered. in lieu of this information though, all you can do is go with what you have.

i don't have a video, for example, of roberto kelly handing me his 1992 all-star game shirt. from all aspects though, the shirt appears to be his 1992 all-star game shirt so that's what i'm going to believe. however, if kelly himself stated that he has his 1992 all-star game shirt, then i'm probably going to think that he's right. until that time though, all of the evidence points to it being the one so that's what seems logical for me to believe.

rudy.

[BaseballGM]

I once had the opportunity to speak with a prominent MLB player about his game used gloves. He admitted to giving away gloves to family friends etc that were sent to him by various manufacturers; however he could tell by looks whether he used a particular glove or not. In his locker that day was the one he used in games and one he was breaking in during BP.

[mr.miracle]

Rudy has hit the nail right on the head here. According to Ripken two total game used gloves or at least game ready gloves of his or presently not in his possession. Right from Cal's own mouth and I quote, "The only thing that I am currently not in control of is two gloves. One was my backup gamer that I gave to a kid; the other glove was stolen from me while playing in Kansas City." We obviously do not know if his backup gamer ever saw any game use so it could be it was a game issued but never used in an actual game. In any case here is one potential problem. I am presently aware of four individuals who are claiming to have Cal Ripken Jr. game used gloves. There is the one that Dan Derleth has been advertising for sale on this forum over the past two months. There is an additional glove that another forum member presently claims to have in his own possession that is a Ripken game used glove. Dave O'Brien also has or had a glove in his possession which is now apparently consigned for sale through Heritage. Additionally, another very prominent Ripken collector reportedly has one in his collection as well.

As it was pointed out when this story first came out, it is impossible for Cal Ripken to say that he has everything game used that was ever worn or used by him in his possession except for these two gloves. Obviously if that was the case, all of the bats that are currently out there would have to be fakes. However, gloves are another story based upon evidence that suggests that Cal might have only used a dozen gloves or less during his playing career.

Although I am comfortable purchasing various Ripken game used bats and select other memorabilia considering the source, I would not touch any of these gloves with a ten foot pole. If Cal is correct on this issue and I have every reason to believe that he is at least in respect to his game used gloves, then at least two of the four gloves that I am aware of are fakes and who knows how many other gloves that are reportedly game used by Cal are out there that nobody knows about.

My understanding in relation to the question for Dave O'Brien and why he consigned this glove to Heritage is due to the questions raised by Denny Eskin regarding this gloves authenticity. I would speculate that since Denny gave it a thumbs down, Victor was not comfortable placing it in the auction. If that is in fact true, somebody should have sent it over to Lou Lampson as I am sure he would have taken one look at it and signed off on its authenticity. Perhaps Dave can shed some additional light on that issue.

Thanks

[ironmanfan]

In case anyone was curious if Cal had suffered any long term memory loss since his playing career ended (relative to his comments in a recent Beckett), I suggest all interested parties refer to a July 1997 interview that Beckett also did with Cal...(page 104). You'll note that his commnets are strangely consistent.

Beckett: Do you try to collect memorabilia from your career?

Ripken: I have been very particular about my gloves and certain things that I wear. To me, it's like your glove is what you worked with. I try to keep control of that. I try not to let too much of that get out. Somebody stole a glove of mine between Kansas City and Baltimore or something. It got taken out of a bag. Thats the only glove that's unaccounted for. It was my game glove.

The glove in the auction is garbage though I have to admit that sticker on it looks way neato...

[allstarsplus]

Although I am comfortable purchasing various Ripken game used bats and select other memorabilia considering the source, I would not touch any of these gloves with a ten foot pole. If Cal is correct on this issue and I have every reason to believe that he is at least in respect to his game used gloves, then at least two of the four gloves that I am aware of are fakes and who knows how many other gloves that are reportedly game used by Cal are out there that nobody knows about.

There are dozens of dedicated Ripken high-end collections and I know another with an identical looking Ripken glove (not autographed). I wonder where all these gloves came from and who owns the real Kansas City swiped glove. By the way, Cal always had a good backup mitt in his possession and knows those whereabouts too except the legitimate one he gave to a kid.

So who is telling the truth here? I believe Cal is.

I agree 100% with Brett's posting except I would buy the glove if it was characterized correctly as a factory game model and priced accordingly. It is still a great glove---but not for $2,999.

I can tell you with almost the highest probability that Cal also would never sign one of his gloves (except an unused glove) unless it came directly from him (and according to Cal that has never happened yet). He would recognize immediately if someone brought to him the Kansas City "missing" glove.

The glove Dave O'Brien purchased was autographed at the National in 2002.



So within the last 5 years since this glove was autographed it probably changed hands several times and my guess is someone worked it up as a game used glove.

According to Chris Ivy, he will investigate and take appropriate action.

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

This should be interesting what Chris Ivy does. Andrew

[mvandor]

Alot of bubbles get burst around here, don't they?