Stadium Seats
 

Quick question, I was looking at auction of stadium seats. And I noticed that several stadiums used the same type of seats. So how can you tell the seats are real. What stops someone from taking a pair of Fulton-County stadium seats and putting a 50th ann. Yankee plate on it cause they look like the same type. Or saying any other seat type is from a famous stadium?

Interesting question. I'm not certain of the answer other than provenance.
I've got three seats, with varying provenance.

Fulton County - (how's that for a coincidence?) Sold to a minor league park, then bought by a dealer in bulk much later. This pair came with a nice folder with copies of letters etc documenting the whole thing, as well as one with the technical specs of the color matching for the restoration.

Fenway Park - No paperwork, but bought in 82 before stadium seats got much notice. From a Boston area town flea market. The woman said her husband had worked on a Fenway renovation in the early 70's and brought it home instead of throwing it out like he was supposed to. It's fenway green, and matches others that were in the park the last time I was there.

Arlington Stadium - Pretty much nothing except that's how it was described in the club auction where I bought it. It's a pretty beat red plastic seat. It's also pretty generic so I suppose it could be from somewhere else.

Steve B

Steve,
FWIW, I don't recall Arlington Stadium having red seats. All seats that I recall and have seen were gold (high end lower seats) and orange. I attended a fair amount of games at Arlington Stadium from 1989-1993 while Nolan Ryan was a pitcher with the Rangers....

Interesting. I can't recall if I bought it before or after the park closed.

That also prompted me to finally check online for pics, and I did find a few.
Maybe the fading made them look more orange?

several here, showing red, and they look like the same type of seat. Mine has tan sides, looks like not all sections did. http://www.ballparks.phanfare.com/24...ageID=38717093

A better pic of a single from Ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-STAD...-/110678213952

Looks just like it - of course, veterans stadium looks the same, and probably a bunch of others too.

Steve B

My wife purchased two chairs as gifts for me in the '90s. They were both purchased directly from the teams and came with the doccumentation below. Hope this helps.