How do some baseball players react when you ask if they can sign their game used items ?

[ruhoos]

Has anyone ever gotten a "that wasn't game used" response? If so.. then what do you do? Smile and say thanks?

Saw it first hand. A guy had a #91 Virginia jersey. Asked Chris Long to sign it and inscribe "Game Used." Chris declined saying, "Dude I never wore that jersey. That's [another player]."

He signed it but wouldn't write game used.

On a separate note, couldn't be a more down-to-earth pro than Chris. Great player and even better person.

[woody1351]

I bought a bat from a member on here and I knew the player was going to be in the same golf outting I was in, so I brought the bat with me. I told him I had one of his bat game used bat and was wondering if he would sign it. He said sure if its mine. I tried to keep a lot of my stuff so I dont know if it is real or not. We walked outside to my cart and I got it out and he looked at it. Said well you do have one of my bat and I would love to sign it for you. He looked all over the bat and enjoyed seeing it.

[RMoody]

Greg Lloyd nearly refused to sign my Panthers gamer, he wouldn't inscribe game used but he said it "looked like it was his". Went on to talk about the not so positive memories and clearly still harbored some resentment.

Said it was the first Panthers item he signed since leaving the team, he generally declines any of stuff.

Not game used, but I once had Ron Jaworski sign a Dolphins mini helmet, which he said "Oh man, it's been a while and I don't see those often. I think I wore #17, if it's wrong, I guess this will be worth more or assumed fake."

[CubbyBear8]

Junior Lake lit up like a Christmas Tree when he saw his rookie bat. He signed it graciously. Anthony Rizzo was very inquisitive about his bat when I had him sign it. (Not in a negative way, just was very interested where I got it). Darwin Barney didn't even react... Soriano would always smile really big and talk about the item. Castro the same way.

[DJaeger22]

I had bought bats of Marlon Anderson and Jose Hernandez to get signed since they were both coaching in the SAL a few years back. Jose barely looked up but Marlons face lit up and asked where I had gotten it. He then took it and gripped it before making sure the paint pen was charged and ready then signed it.

[TNTtoys]

I know I have responded to similar threads with my stories, but likely never got to post this one, as it was more recent than the others.

In Jan/Feb 2013, I met Al Holland at a show and presented for him his 1979 Giants jersey to sign. He was so happy to see this jersey, he raved on about it for several minutes. I was with my youngest son, who was 8 at the time... and I could get the feeling that he saw the actual joy we get out of this hobby at that point. Holland could not have been nicer... let's face it, he is a huge scary looking guy, but came across as a big teddy bear with a heart of gold.

We stopped chatting, and were about to walk away, when Al picked up his cell phone and told us that he's going to call his wife and tell her all about what he just signed. Truly a great experience for everyone...and a jersey that doesn't quite fit into my collection but will probably always be a part of it.

[rchimes13@yahoo.com]

Contrary to what others have experienced...Joey Votto, following his 2008 rookie season, was more than gracious and in fact taught me about game used bats and what to look for contact mark wise etc. He explained that the bat I had presented him was in fact his, but that due to contact marks was used by a right handed hitter (most likely a pitcher he said due to the sloppy placement of ball marks) and took the time to explain and demonstrate how he holds his bats etc. It was an amazing experience and at the time I knew nothing about what to look for in GU bats so it's kind of cool to say that my favorite player and one of the best pure hitters in MLB taught me about GU bats