 Kyle Snyder signing my jersey. Photo courtesy of Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.net (Altered by me to point out Kyle more clearly!) |
I collect plenty of memorabilia. I have a sixpack of Coke from 2004 with the Red Sox World Series logo plastered all over it. I have a poster showing Keith Foulke, Johnny Damon, Gabe Kapler and Kevin Millar sitting on Harleys with the Boston skyline behind them (autographed by Millar!). I go to sleep every night looking at a poster that reads “Mr. Clutch” and shows different Boston Globe sports page covers from various walk-off wins courtesy of Big Papi.
I have a lot of stuff. In the big picture, useless stuff. I understand this. It all means a lot more to me than it does anyone else. (A Kevin Millar/Kevin Youkilis bobble head! Two for the price of one!) But there’s one faction of sports memorabilia that I don’t get: the game-worn items.
Before I go on, I also own two game-worn jerseys. One I bought in an auction at a Portland SeaDogs game back in 2005. It was worn by Jim Mann and the money went to a good cause…and no one else had bid on it and I felt sorry for Jimmy…so I bid on it and, much to my surprise, I won it. So there’s one. The other is a Kyle Snyder BP jersey from 2007. In my defense, I didn’t buy it because it was game-worn. I bought it because I was looking for a Snyder jersey for 2008 and this was the only one I knew would get to me before Opening Day. It wasn’t in my plans to buy a game-worn jersey, but I did. I wasn’t excited because it was supposedly worn by Kyle (I just don’t get that. I could see a jersey and say Jacoby Ellsbury wore it. How would you know?), I was excited because I wanted the Snyder jersey. (Added bonus was getting Kyle to sign it. See, I’m good with that. If you have a game-worn jersey that the player who wore it signed for you, I get that. I don’t get having to have a piece of clothing that a player might have worn.) If the price is right (as both jerseys I bought were in my price range for what I’d normally spend) I understand that as well.
But tell me this, who would go on eBay and buy a cap for $5000.00 just because someone with a feedback number over 1200 says Ted Williams wore it?
Five thousand dollars for a baseball cap? (And according to this seller “THIS HAT WAS GIVEN TO MY MOM BY TED HIMSELF. MOM AND DAD WERE TEDS FRIENDS WENT TO TEDS FOR DINNER MANY TIMES.”) Well there you go, I’m sold. Your mom and dad were Ted’s friends? Send it over!
If that’s too rich for your blood, someone is selling a pair of pants Gary Tuck wore while with the New York Yankees. Bidding starts at $49.99 (plus $12 s&h) for Gary’s drawers.
Too obscure for you? Well we’ll have to go back to the big ticket items. Someone is selling a David Ortiz Twins jersey for $4000.00. Immediate payment required, of course. Again, I just don’t get it.
I try not to judge, though, because goodness knows I have my own quirky pieces of memorabilia. I just believe in spending your money on something you know is worth it. I love my Kyle Snyder jersey more than any other jersey I own. But it isn’t because it’s game-worn (which I, honestly, will never be fully convinced it is. Although Kyle’s response to seeing it was “The last time I saw that jersey I was wearing it!”. Maybe I shouldn’t be so skeptical.), it’s just because I do. I know, that’s deep, isn’t it? Well it’s the truth. I wanted a Kyle jersey, they aren’t easy to come by and I got one. It’s a special piece of material, game-worn or not. So I know I shouldn’t judge if people want to spend their money on something they hope was worn by their favorite player.
Man, if Mean Joe Greene knew how much it could be worth, he would have never given that kid his jersey.