Quote:
Originally Posted by rand1com
Even with game used items, the difference in price between a game issued jersey of an all time player and a game used jersey of same player is monumental.
Yes, the jersey may be real but the value is negligible compared to a game used one and you are counting on mainly experts just the same as on autographs to determine the liklihood of game use.
The opinions of John Taube on game used bats carries weight in the market whereas someone else unknown in the hobby with more knowledge than him carries zero weight.
It is all just something to collect anyway and the added value is only important if you are selling.
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What Taube has, besides a ton of personal knowledge of bats, are access to shipping records and an extensive database of exemplars. For instance, I once asked him about a Billy Williams 1961-64 GU bat. It matched factory records, had the uniform number written on the knob, looked good in every way, except all the ball marks were on the wrong side of the barrel, as though used by a righthanded hitter.
John then asked, "Which side of the barrel has the widest grain?" An odd question, I thought, but I replied, the side with the ball marks. John said that's what all of his exemplar Williams bats showed, and then he explained to me that some players thought wider grain made a harder hitting surface, so they'd go label up or label down depending which side had the widest grain.
With jerseys, use can never be certain without a photo match (and even they can be deceiving.) Unless a player chewed tobacco and left stains (like my 1960 Sal Maglie coaches shirt) it's about impossible to determine who put the wear on a shirt. Could've been done in subsequent season(s) in spring training or the minors by a different man. But that's like saying a player might not have used a fishing pole he owned, or driven the car registered to him, etc.
Autographs are far, far easier to fake, and fake completely. I hope we can agree on that because I think it's an obvious thing.