The Kansas City Royals game used thread

[MichaelofSF]

Alex Gordon 2007 game used rookie bat (Royals (Omaha) organization LOA)
Gordon was hailed as the "next George Brett" after winning college player of the year in 2005 and the minor league player of the year in 2006. While Gordon struggled out of the gates, he has become a Gold Glove winning, All Star Left Fielder. My Alex Gordon collection used to be alot bigger but the only Gordon bat that I have left in my collection is this rookie gamer. The bat has MLB authentication sticker on it. I originally obtained this bat on a fundraising auction on eBay from the Omaha Royals.

Gordon used Lousville Slugger non signature model bats for his entire rookie campaign. The C243 model is what I primarily saw him using. In early mid 2008, I think around the end of May, Gordon began using signature models. In his rookie year Gordon also used all black and all light colored bats mostly. Some of his early models (2006 minors and early 2007) have a tape brim around the end of the handle. Gordon has mainly used two-tone colored bats over the majority of his career.

This particular bat was last used and broken on July 25th against the Yankees. I have never seen a Royals player who breaks more bats than Gordon.

[MichaelofSF]

Forgot to add that on the Gordon game used bats that I have handled his number is typically on both the knob and end of barrel. Here is his "7" from his rookie year

[MichaelofSF]

Carlos Beltran 1999 game used rookie bat
this bat is from Beltran's 1999 rookie of the year campaign. As a switch hitter, Beltran's bats typically show use on both the right of the label and left of the label. This bat shows lighter use for Beltran with a few seam marks present on the barrel. Beltran wore #36 his rookie year before switching to #15 his sophomore year.

[MichaelofSF]

Carlos Beltran 2000-2001 game used cracked bat (likely 2000)
Here is another early career Beltran bat. This shows more use on both sides of the barrel. Also of note is the number switch to 15

[MichaelofSF]

more bats.....
Kevin Seitzer 1986-89 era game used cracked bat
I am not an expert on Kevin Seitzer bats as this is the first Seitzer bat that I have handled. As a kid I didn't love Seitzer because he started playing 3rd base which was to me, George Brett's position. Seitzer had a productive few years for the Royals, he was in All Star in his rookie year and finished second in the ROY voting. As a fan I thought Seitzer's work as hitting coach for the Royals was superb as he helped turn Alex Gordon's career around.

On the bat there is a small crack on the handle. Ball and usage marks are present on the left barrel. I won this bat at auction and during my research the bat seemed to be consistent with photos of Seitzer from that era.

[MichaelofSF]

Mike Sweeney 2001 game used Rawlings bat (cracked)
Sweeney came up to the bigs as a doubles machine. He was Captain of the Royals for part of his tenure there and this year was elected into the Royals Hall of Fame. The first time I met Sweeney was before a Spring Training game at Surprise. Sweeney was so nice that my friend and I joked that he was Ned Flanders. I always wondered if he really was that nice. After spending some time with Sweeney at Fantasy Camp I can honestly say that he is as nice as his reputation is.

About the bat... This is a 2001 Rawlings made Mike Sweeney bat. There is the slightest crack present right near the label and silver strip. Ball marks are present to the left side of the label as well as somewhat on the backside of the bat. Pine tar present just below the label. In 2001 Sweeney was an All Star and batted .304 with 29 HR, 46 doubles, 99 RBI and 97 R.

[sportsnbikes]

Man where do you get this stuff at? I never see ANYTHING like the stuff you post. Very nice items.

[MichaelofSF]

Man where do you get this stuff at? I never see ANYTHING like the stuff you post. Very nice items.

Jeff,
Mostly auction houses, team auctions, and ebay. Occasionally I'll pick something up on the forum here. Just hope Leigh or Wes start posting some stuff too. They both have some really great Royals items in their collections.

[MichaelofSF]

1989 Bret Saberhagen game used road jersey

1989 was an odd numbered year, so it was a great year for Sabes. He went 23-6 with a 2.16 ERA. As a kid this was one of my favorite seasons as the Royals were still competitive and Sabes was battling Dave Stewart for the Cy Young.

I obtained this jersey from the 2012 Hunt All Star game auction. We had previously discussed this jersey here . I had missed out on this jersey on ebay but it had had it's name restored and auctioned off for me to win it. Some pilling is present near the chest velcro.

The interesting thing about this jersey is that in 1989 Rawlings was the jersey supplier for the Royals, but this jersey is a Wilson made jersey. An easy way to spot the Wilson and Rawlings jerseys is by the number fonts. Sabes wore both Wilson and Rawlings that year. He was wearing the Wilson when he won his Royals record 23rd win in Oakland. Unfortunately I didn't win the SCP auction for the 1989 Saberhagen glove as that was a beauty. The two baseball cards show the Wilson and Rawlings styles

So I was talking to Sabes this year at Royals Fantasy Camp about the whole Wilson/Rawlings 1989 jersey thing to know what the reason why was. He didn't remember or even notice. I did pick his brain some about his equipment. Sabes remembered that he started hemming his jerseys because he said he hated the front tail. He couldn't exactly remember when this started. In his Royals days he didn't do this but some time around 1994 in my observations his jerseys start to show this.

Sabes also said that he used to change undershirts every inning because he would sweat alot. I missed out on his 1989 game used glove that he auctioned off with SCP last year but started talking with him about his gloves. He said that he started having his gloves made with sweat bands because of his profuse sweating. He said the first year the band smelled so bad from use that in subsequent years they started making the glove so that the band could be changed out. He also said he used to tip his curveball by extending his finger on his glove so he started having a finger hood placed on his glove. This was all pretty interesting stuff to me to hear from the source.

[sportsnbikes]

Jeff,
Mostly auction houses, team auctions, and ebay. Occasionally I'll pick something up on the forum here. Just hope Leigh or Wes start posting some stuff too. They both have some really great Royals items in their collections.

I must not be going to the right auction houses...lol.