Team Issued vs Game Worn or Used?

[ScottR81]

If a Jersey is MLB hologramed and is listed as "Team Issued" Does this mean that its NOT game worn or used?

Here ebay's definition:

"If the jersey has a MLB Authentication Hologram, check it within the database on MLB.com, under the Auction section. If you check it within the MLB Database, it may say team issued, however, when Authenicators, Inc. puts a jersey into the database and they do not have a specific date of last use by the player, they list the jersey as team issued, even though it may show signs of game use."

Second part to this question is Game "Worn" vs. Game "Used"?

Can game "worn" mean a player wore the jersey while never actually entering the game but maybe sat on the bench the whole time, while game "used" means it was actually on the back of a player while in the game.

Whats are everyone's thoughts on this?

[drcy]

MLB hologramed items listed as team issued CAN be game worn, but you need other evidence such as usage and/or photomatch to confirm.

The MLB folks at the game note down only what they see with their own eyes. If they see the player remove the jersey after leaving the game, it will be noted as game worn. If the jersey was game worn but comes to the MLB authenticator in a pile of laundry in the lockerroom after the game, it will be noted in the records as team issued. The MLB authenticators are like notary publics. A notary public may have no question you signed that document but, per their job requirements, will only notary stamp the signature when they watched as you signed on the dotted line. There have been numerous items listed in the MLB records as team issued that have been confirmed as game worn through wear and photomatching. Realize that game worn and team issued aren't mutually exclusive words, as a game worn jersey was also team issued. It's just that not all team issued jerseys were worn in a game.

This very topic has been discussed often on the game used universe board.

I assume game used and game worn mean the same thing. Though you don't wear a baseball bat. There are cases where a player sat on the bench and the uniform is referred to as game worn (or game used)-- but that's a different issue than worn versus used usage. For game dated jerseys, collectors often check the box scores to confirm the player played.

[Runscott]

Not to be a contradictarian, but I'm not sure that all of the MLB teams treat the terms the same way that David described. In particular, I have seen Washington Nationals items described as game-used, but they weren't - I checked archived game footage and was able to prove it for at least one item.

I have three Seattle Mariners jerseys from 'Salute to Beisbol' night (each has 'Marineros' on the front instead of 'Mariners'). Each player was issued a jersey, and obviously some players never saw game action, some sat in the dug-out, some probably didn't even attend the game. Yet each is in the 'game-used' database and the descriptions don't say anything much - they are all in the same format as the following. Paxton did not pitch and I am not sure whether he was suited up for the game - I assume he was - but his jersey description is the same as my Kyle Seager one, and Seager definitely played and the jersey is dirty.

[drcy]

I know one problem collectors have is when jerseys are listed as game worn when the player didn't play in the game. The offending cases usually involve the leaguing saying a jersey worn by a player at the game is game worn, even if he sat on the bench or stood on the sidelines the whole time.

[Gary Dunaier]

Never thought there was such a thing as a distinction between "game used" and "game worn." It's a very valid point.

It's probably safest for MLB authenticators to use the phrase "game worn" when referring to uniforms, because if a player wore the jersey during the game, it was obviously game worn - even if he sat out the entire game.

On the other hand, his team-mate who played all 9 innings of the same game would be wearing a jersey that's just as "game worn" as his benchwarmer colleague's - but it would also be "game used" as well.

[Runscott]

I know that collectors of modern jerseys will review games on MLB.com to see if the player in question was in the dugout. I tried that with my Paxton and Carson Smith 'Marineros' jerseys, but got bored and gave up.