Anybody can sue anybody so I don't know if this lawsuit has merit but the part I highlighted in blue below says a lot about educating yourself before a purchase and especially high end purchases like supposedly spending $50,000+ on a significant base.

I searched for the archives on MLB Auctions to see if they had the results from the bases that were sold from the 2004 Red Sox Yankees Playoff games, but could not retrieve any auction results. My recollection was that all the bases were hologram'd by MLB. I don't know if they gave "innings it was used in" and which base (1st base, 2nd base, 3rd base) it actually was. I know many bases I have give that information and some have additional information in magic marker on the bottom of the bases that have helped me in my research.

Lawyers for Grandstand Sports and its principal owners, Howard Schwartz and Seth Forrest, deny the allegations.


http://www.sunchronicle.com/articles...news/news3.txt



So, how much of a steal was this base?

BY STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Sunday, August 5, 2007 1:50 AM EDT

FOXBORO - Alex Rodriguez likely wishes everyone would just forget the time back in the 2004 American League Championship Series when he deployed a slightly effeminate twist of his wrist to knock the ball out of Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo's glove.

But, unfortunately for the Yankees' third baseman, who on Saturday became the youngest player in history to reach the 500-home-run milestone, the bizarre incident is back in the news now that a wealthy Foxboro businessman, Todd Patkin, is suing a New York memorabilia dealer over it.


Patkin's lawyers claim that Grandstand Sports & Memorabilia Inc. ripped Patkin off to the tune of more than $100,000 over three years by selling him a pile of fraudulent sports memorabilia - including a base that they said was the one Rodriguez was aiming for when he slapped Arroyo's glove.

The suit says Patkin, who co-owns Autopart International, paid more than $50,000 for the base, which his lawyers say was not the one involved in the famous A-Rod-Arroyo dust-up.

Lawyers for Grandstand Sports and its principal owners, Howard Schwartz and Seth Forrest, deny the allegations.

The lawsuit explains that Patkin had no experience with collecting sports memorabilia before he began to buy from Grandstand in the summer of 2004. No one answered the phone at Patkin's residence late Saturday.

Schwartz, the founder of Grandstand, has become prominent in the memorabilia world, according to the company's Web site - appearing, for example, on the television program "CBS MarketWatch Weekend."

During the show, the Web site goes on to explain, "Mr. Schwartz, an expert on memorabilia authenticity, gave tips on how to protect yourself from fraud."



TED NESI can be reached at 508-236-0434 or at tnesi@thesunchronicle.com.