HELP PLEASE - Mark Grace 1992 MLB All-Stars Tour of Japan Jersey
 

I hit the motherload of Mark Grace memorabilia at an estate sale this past weekend that was put on by Grace's former roommate. One of the items I bought was a uniform and glove combination. I was hoping that the experts on this forum will have information on these items:

Jersey - This appears to be Grace's 1992 Tour of Japan jersey - can anyone confirm that based on the tags? There are no neck tags on the jersey. My internet research appears to show that Rawlings did the Cubs jerseys for a few years before 1992 and Russell Athletic did the 1992 season. Not sure what Grace would have worn for the Japan tour though. I did not take a picture of the back of the jersey on my phone so I have not uploaded a picture of the back. The back has the number 17 and no name at the top.

Pants - The pants appear to be Sandberg's 1992 Set 1 pants - I included a picture of the tags showing this. Not sure why Grace would have worn those to Japan. Either Grace wore them to Japan or the uniform was mismatched.

Glove - My internet research appears to show this is the model Grace used but I do not know when he used this model. The word "Japan" is on one side - not sure if this is significant. The glove does not show any signs of use.

Also, Grace is going to be signing near my house in November and I was thinking of having him autograph the jersey and add an inscription like "Game used 1992 Japan All Star Tour MVP" if that is accurate. A few questions:

Do you prefer game used items autographed? Where would you recommend having it signed?

Also, the uniform and pants came in plastic wrapping that seems to indicate they were dry-cleaned. The pants were also pinned to the hanger like a dry cleaner would do. It appears the blue strip on the jersey arms may be discolored/faded - possibly from the dry cleaning.

The items I bought included a team photo of the 1992 MLB tour team, and a personal note from Bobby Cox to Grace on Cox's stationary. Hoping someone has information on whether the jersey is game used. Thanks in advance!

I also attached a picture of Grace's personal bat bag that was purchased at the estate sale because I think it is a very interesting and unique item.

For what it's worth, I suggest you have Grace sign the picture of the team and NOT the Jersey...great find...no comment though on authenticity though I can't imagine them not being the real deal...Grace himself should be able to answer your questions for you, though...

There is a HUGE Grace collector...he might even be THE Grace collector and he doesnt live too far from me. I suggest you might want to reach out to him for assistance.

Check out his web site http://www.markgrace.com/

Hi - I'm the Grace Collector whitehse mentioned above. Very cool items - what a score! Let me check them out in depth and get back to you. Grace was MVP of the 1992 Japan Tour. Grace was in Japan for 2000 Cubs/Mets season opening series too. Looks like you already know Grace will be at the Sun-Times show in November. Last time he was at a Sun-Times show, I took a gamer hat - and after inspecting it, he was cool with inscribing it with "Game Used" for me.

http://www.markgrace.com/images/hat1.jpg
http://www.markgrace.com/images/hat5.jpg

I live in Huntley, west of Chicago.

Excellent, thank you for the help! Any information you can provide would be excellent since the 1992 Japan Tour jersey is such a unique item. I was about to email you through your website.

I have a friend that works at Mounted Memories so I am trying to get a chance to meet him backstage as well at which time he could inspect the items. I also acquired his 1997 All Star warm-up jersey and locker nameplate. This jersey was mounted and framed. I removed the frame for purposes of this picture. Not sure whether I should get these jerseys signed (the 1997 AS jersey can easily be dismounted from the cardboard backing - the tape running down the center of the jersey is on the cardboard only and does not attach to the jersey). Thought you would like to see this jersey as well.

Would the concern be that the autograph will fade over time? Or, that the signature would actually de-value the jersey?

Also, if Grace confirmed it was his game used Tour of Japan jersey but I was not going to get it signed, how would you recommend getting it authenticated as game used?

Some initial notes -

Jersey - The patch identifies it as 1992 Japan Tour. Grace did wear a size 46 for most of his career, towards the end went to 48. Does it have "GRACE" nameplate on back?

Glove - doesn't look game used, probably more accurate to describe it as game-issued. It's the model he used. Japan here only refers to where the glove was made, not that it was issued for the 92 tour. Here's another game-issued Grace that matches yours and was sold in a 2011 Lelands auction.

http://www.strictlyfitteds.com/blog/...sued-Glove.jpg

BTW - Japan Tour items are very rarely seen. The tour didn't get a lot of publicity in the US - so photo matches are tough.

The 1992 Tour of Japan Jersey does not have Grace's name on the back. Only the number 17.

The 1992 model Cubs jerseys do not appear to have included names on the back - see this Trachsel without his name on the back. But, the auction below shows that Russell Athletic was the manufacturer in 1992. The Japan Tour jersey was manufactured by Rawlings.

http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.co...entoryid=65621


Rawlings was the manufacturer of Cubs jerseys for 1991 (as shown in auction below), but the Rawlings tags on the 1992 tour of japan jersey are different with the tag on the 1992 tour of japan jersey located at the front right bottom and no neck tagging.

http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.co...entoryid=43755

I found this piece of information online that may explain why Rawlings did the 1992 Tour of Japan jersey even though Rawlings did not do the 1992 Cubs MLB jerseys:

"A recent auction allowed me to learn something about Rawlings advertising logos on MLB game uniforms. While the 1987 contract was the first widespread use of the manufacturer name on the jersey sleeve, there was at least one occasion upon which a Rawlings emblem was worn on an MLB uniform before that. In this case, it was the 1978 Reds Tour of Japan uniforms. While the grey roads during the season were Wilson products, the Reds went to Rawlings for the traveling grays worn in the postseason Japanese exhibition tour."

http://www.mearsonline.com/index.php...t01returnid=98

Carlos Baerga 1992 Japan Tour Jersey
 

I recently just purchased a Carlos Baerga 1992 MLB Japan All Star Tour jersey
Everything seems correct with the jersey...
A size 44 as he wore a 42 in 1991 and we all know Carlos got bigger every year he played :)
Tagging is all appropriate also with rawlings and year code and the patch is sewn on in the correct spot to match the other examples...
But i am trying to photo match it...
All i have found is this very small image of Carlos in the bottom Left of it from someones twitter account that is inactive... (Attached to this post)
I cannot find the original image anywhere...I have checked Getty and Googled quite a bit...
I love in this photo how you can see the Japanese players on the right of the image!!!
Anyone have any other ideas or can help would be appreciated.
Thank you
Andy

That photo appears in the November 16, 1992 issue of Sports Illustrated.

https://www.si.com/vault/issue/710877/59/2

Thank you so much!! that is great.
ANdy

All I know is Will Clark beat Grace out for 1989 NLCS MVP! :p

Twarman17,
Opinions are usually split on whether or not to get a jersey signed.
I would recommend that if you do go that route that you get it signed in the tail section as I've shown here.

BTW, regarding Mark Grace, I have a great story to share:
I grew up in Tustin, CA graduating from Tustin Union High School, which happens to be Mark Grace's Alma Mater, although Mark Grace graduated several years after me.
During the early 1980's I was taking batting practice in the batting practice cages directly across from the high school. Through the years I had become friendly with the owner of these batting cages.
He pointed at a blond-hared kid shagging balls in the back of the batting cages. Out of the blue he declared that "This kid will absolutely hit .300 in the major leagues!".
I said something like, "Whatever, man" and asked him why he was so sure? He told me that "He had seen literally thousands of baseball swings in his lifetime, and this kid DEFINITELY HAD IT! His name is Mark Grace and don't forget that he was the one that told me about him".

Obviously he was right as Mark Grace had an extremely successful ML career.
Mark Grace was the reason that the Cubs traded away Raphael Palmeiro, which is saying something (over 500 HR's and 3,000 career hits).

TRIVIA QUESTION:
Who had more hits than anyone in the 1990's in the MLB?
ANSWER:
Mark Grace