The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

[sylbry]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

This thought may be out in left field but is it possible that teams issued an extra jersey for players when they make their MLB debut, allowing them to keep the jersey they wore that day?

[kingjammy24]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

Is it likely they make up two as SOP in case one is torn or damaged in a game, a backup?

ripken arrived on aug 10. played in 23 games. mostly as a pinch hitter or pinch runner. spent most of his time, in his words, "riding the bench and eating sunflower seeds". in the 70s and early 80s, the practice really was to issue 2 road and 2 home to each player for the season. i suppose it's possible that ripken, despite arriving so late in the season, was issued 2 road. whether he actually used 2 road jerseys is questionable. after all, the orioles knew he wouldn't be playing much. he had 39 AB.

i don't know if the orioles ordered customized blanks in '81 but now i do know that at least 1 MLB team did in recent years. both ripken jerseys are set 1 which isn't all that odd if they were both made from blanks. maybe the difference in lengths (2"/3") results from them grabbing whatever customized blanks they had lying around.

rudy.

[mvandor]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

Sure its possible, but back in the 80's they were not giving out many jerseys so seems unlikely for 7 road games to wear 2 jerseys.

Is it likely they make up two as SOP in case one is torn or damaged in a game, a backup?

[allstarsplus]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

Sure its possible, but back in the 80's they were not giving out many jerseys so seems unlikely for 7 road games to wear 2 jerseys.

[kingjammy24]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

breaking news, breaking news. this just in from trisha takanawa.

i was sent some pics of legit team-ordered MLB blanks (not from the Orioles or the 80s) that show customized blanks. this shoots down my idea that customized blanks don't make enough sense to order. so now i know it's actually happened. wacky stuff..customized blanks. who'd have thunk.

that said, the remaining curiosity for me is the idea there are two of these jerseys and ripken played in only 7 road games in 1981. i wonder which of the jerseys he used in those 7. is it possible he used both?

rudy.

[cincy13]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

no I'm not the seller, don't know the seller. I sell alot in this industry though, at shows and online, and I hear alot of guys discredit items when the item is out of their price range. It's ok to question the authenticity, you have to, but sometimes the level of scrutiny is ridiculous. You see Babe Ruth bats being sold at huge prices, so what if they match the records, who's to say he really used that bat? But the buyers keep buying them. I personally don't think a Ripken jersey is worth $100,000.

[Danny899]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

Ok, I give up. You're right and I'm wrong.

[kingjammy24]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

Rudy, I had one of Rickey Henderson's first Mariners jerseys. It was a 44 with 2 inches extra length. Great typical Henderson wear on this jersey. Can you imagine Rickey, who preferred short tailored fronts wearing this?

hey danny

like these?:

http://lelands.com/LotDetail.aspx?lotid=73677

http://lelands.com/LotDetail.aspx?lotid=73707

actually i can't. not only did the mariners not have a single 44 blank as early in the season as may, but after getting his atypical 44+2, rickey didn't cut the hems off himself?

here's a 2000 henderson mariners gamer from man of steal:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220289749829

here's a 2000 henderson mets gamer from man of steal.."-1 length":

http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/Auction_Item.asp?Auction_ID=36758

i've seen so many 2000 mariners henderson shirts. i wonder how one can know which of those shirts were his first. the provenance on your jersey ..man of steal? you know who i'd like to hear from..reid fontaine. paging mr. fontaine... mr. reid fontaine.

rudy.

[Danny899]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

you've boiled the issue down to the essential question: are blanks ordered with or without customizations? my opinion is that they aren't. i don't believe it makes much sense. i believe they'd order a variety of sizes but not customizations because customizations aren't common. 3" of extra length in 1981 would be uncommon. why purchase atypical blanks especially if you're a cheap team like the Orioles? most of them would end up wasted. it'd be like ordering twenty size 52s in 1981. you'd order blanks that would have the likeliest appeal. 42s, 44s, 46s, a few 48s. you think they'd then go ahead and also order ones with 1" extra length, 2" extra length, 3" extra length? where do you stop? of course, this is all conjecture on my end as i've never worked in a major league clubhouse. maybe they did order blanks with atypical customizations.


rudy.

Rudy, I had one of Rickey Henderson's first Mariners jerseys. It was a 44 with 2 inches extra length. Great typical Henderson wear on this jersey. Can you imagine Rickey, who preferred short tailored fronts wearing this? The provenance was solid and it was a great pick up. By the way, can you lend me 100G? I see a jersey I really like.

[Rob L]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

It seems to me that Rudy has not been opining on whether the jerseys are real or fake, just raising questions that should be thoroughly answered before someone would spend large sums of money. If someone is happy with the two letters, then so be it. Rudy has just brought up some potential inconsistencies. Inconsistencies don't mean there fake, but it would be nice to have some sort of answer from a knowledgeable source that can confirm that the inconsistencies are okay.

[kingjammy24]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

Rudy,
I stand corrected from my last post. I believed you thought the jersey was still good, however some indicators, specifically the card issue were of concern to you. Now after reading your many posts it's apparent you don't think it's good. Which is fine, everyone has opinions here. You ask who ordered the customization in one of your threads. My answer is nobody did. I think, and this is just me, many times a team will pull a blank jersey for a call up or a sudden trade and put the name and number on the jersey. Especially a late season rookie call up. Certainly you know this? This one just happened to have the "custom 3" This is not unusual and happens quite often. I'll end my contribution to this thread by stating that I think this Ripken jersey is a great piece. It's just not worth 100G.

initially i had no opinion on the jersey either way. i solely meant to point out that there were 2 of these things out there and both purported to be the one on the card. later, the customizations started to strike me as illogical. the jersey is supposed to be a blank. the letter states as much. my personal opinion is that blanks don't have customizations.
i don't believe either ripken "isn't good". i have no opinion on them. maybe they're both good, maybe only one is, maybe neither. who knows. i'm just thinking aloud in these posts about the issue of whether a blank would or would not be customized. apparently some, including yourself, believe blanks are ordered with very specific customizations. i don't believe they are. you say "it just happened to have the 3" of extra length". to me that's the entire issue. it just happened to be customized? i find it unlikely.
i don't know which of us is right.
as for the value of the jersey, i think everyone would agree it's likely not even worth half of the ridiculous $100k amount. in 2001, the lelands one sold for $20k. i wonder how much of that value was based on the belief that there was only one of these out there in existance.

rudy.

[kingjammy24]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

While I have no specific knowledge of the Orioles, wouldn't teams have a large variety of blanks on hand -- including jerseys with extra length? Since these customizations are made on the factory level, it's safe to say that 3" blanks, stored in the clubhouse and ready when needed, are not that big a deal.

you've boiled the issue down to the essential question: are blanks ordered with or without customizations? my opinion is that they aren't. i don't believe it makes much sense. i believe they'd order a variety of sizes but not customizations because customizations aren't common. 3" of extra length in 1981 would be uncommon. why purchase atypical blanks especially if you're a cheap team like the Orioles? most of them would end up wasted. it'd be like ordering twenty size 52s in 1981. you'd order blanks that would have the likeliest appeal. 42s, 44s, 46s, a few 48s. you think they'd then go ahead and also order ones with 1" extra length, 2" extra length, 3" extra length? where do you stop? of course, this is all conjecture on my end as i've never worked in a major league clubhouse. maybe they did order blanks with atypical customizations.

to me, a more likely scenario with the ripken jersey, if legit, is that it was made up from another players jersey and that player had ordered the 3" extra length. johnny oriole made the squad, ordered his custom jersey, got cut or traded, then cal came along and liked the 44+3" and the orioles stripped the nameplate off and put ripkens on. of course this would mean there'd be evidence of an alteration.

rudy.

[ironmanfan]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

from Ripken's book "The Only Way I Know":

"Despite a pretty good camp and Jim Palmer's accolade that I was now the best athlete on hand, I was eventually cut and assigned to the minor league camp, and from there to the Triple-A team in Rochester. I wasn't disappointed...Also I'd known I wasn't going to make the Orioles straight out of Double-A anyway...Also the club had openings in 1977, when Reggie Jackson and Bobby Grich left for free agency, and it didn't have openings in 1981. As far back as I can remember Dad had sat down one day every winter and listed the roster of the forty players invited to spring training and a second list of the twenty five players he thought would still be around with the Orioles on Opening Day. He had compiled other lists for the minor league teams. In 1981 I was on the long list for the spring camp, but not on the short one for the final team. There wasn't a spot for me...
When I left the Major League camp, Ray Miller said my having a good year in Rochester might help the big club win 105 games. I hoped so...
On August 8, Doc Edwards told me in the clubhouse that I'd been called to Baltimore. The Major League clubs had been allowed to expand their rosters by two players. Jeff Schneider and I were the choices for the Orioles. I knew about the new positions, of course, and I'd been hopeful because I was playing well, but it was still a surprise...At the same time, I was afraid this wasn't "for real". The Orioles didn't have a place for me to play, not full-time, which is what I wanted. Doug DeCinces was the third baseman, and a very good one. His back had been a problem that year and so had his shoulder, and noone could be sure he'd be ready to play after the strike layoff, but I wasn't likely to push Doug aside if he stayed healthy..."

anyway, if you read the book, it's apparent that the Orioles made the big decision on Ripken in winter of 1981. 1981 was a surprise, 1982 wasn't.

rudy.

My favorite passage in Ripken's autobiography comes on page 298

[Danny899]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

at a minimum, i think the Orioles letter contradicts itself/the jersey.

"..there was no 1981 uniform pre-made for him"

if, as the letter states, there was no 1981 jersey "pre-made" (ordered specifically) for ripken then why does the jersey have a 3" customization? the letter, from the asst. equipment manager, explicitly states they didn't have a jersey waiting for ripken in 1981 so who ordered the customization?

i also find it a little odd that ripken was given 2 road jerseys for the 20 road games he was on the roster for from a cheap club like Orioles. after sept 4, he had no plate appearances. he played 7 road games in 1981.

rudy.

Rudy,
I stand corrected from my last post. I believed you thought the jersey was still good, however some indicators, specifically the card issue were of concern to you. Now after reading your many posts it's apparent you don't think it's good. Which is fine, everyone has opinions here. You ask who ordered the customization in one of your threads. My answer is nobody did. I think, and this is just me, many times a team will pull a blank jersey for a call up or a sudden trade and put the name and number on the jersey. Especially a late season rookie call up. Certainly you know this? This one just happened to have the "custom 3" This is not unusual and happens quite often. I'll end my contribution to this thread by stating that I think this Ripken jersey is a great piece. It's just not worth 100G.

[commando]

Re: The $100,000 Ripken Jersey

at a minimum, i think the Orioles letter contradicts itself/the jersey.

"..there was no 1981 uniform pre-made for him"

if, as the letter states, there was no 1981 jersey "pre-made" (ordered specifically) for ripken then why does the jersey have a 3" customization? the letter, from the asst. equipment manager, explicitly states they didn't have a jersey waiting for ripken in 1981 so who ordered the customization?

i also find it a little odd that ripken was given 2 road jerseys for the 20 road games he was on the roster for from a cheap club like Orioles. after sept 4, he had no plate appearances. he played 7 road games in 1981.

rudy.

While I have no specific knowledge of the Orioles, wouldn't teams have a large variety of blanks on hand -- including jerseys with extra length? Since these customizations are made on the factory level, it's safe to say that 3" blanks, stored in the clubhouse and ready when needed, are not that big a deal.