Blog: July 19-July 25, 2010
July 19, 2010. If you missed out on Pujols' 2000 Arizona Fall League road jersey a few weeks back, the same seller is offering his home shirt on eBay... This is not a 1978 Buddy Schultz road jersey -- it's a minor league shirt. Note there's no name on back (NOB) and the back number is set high... This also is a minor league jersey. Not only does it have the same issue on the back, but it also has a number on the front and none on the sleeves as jerseys from 1979 and 1980 should... Finally, this looks like a legit 1982 road jersey, but #18 was Gene Tenace. Not sure what this one is, but I know what it's not. There was no Brown on the '82 Cardinals. In fact, surprisingly, only one player in Cardinals history has had this common surname -- Jimmy Brown, who played in the late '30s and early '40s.
July 20, 2010. Chris Carpenter swung his fifth different kind of bat this season, using a black LS M9. He'd used LS before, but it was natural ash... I have eight bats currently listed on eBay. A 2000-01 Placido Polonco is the only Cardinals bat. However, Mike Mahoney was a Redbird in 2005 for a short time; while his bat is from his days with the Cubs, he's a tough bat for Cardinals collectors. All eight bats came from a 1999-2001 grounds crew member.
July 21, 2010. Ryan Franklin had his third plate appearance of the season and used his third different bat. Tonight, he used an X-Bat with a Hornsby handle and black barrel, a model favored by Yadier Molina... If you're trying to decide what to buy me for Christmas, here are some gift ideas, courtesy of Legendary Auctions: a 1960 Stan Musial jersey; a 1967 Orlando Cepeda jersey; and Bill White's 1964 World Series ring. Ho, ho, ho!
July 22, 2010. If you're on Steiner Sports' mailing list -- and why would you be unless you're a fan of the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox or Cubs? -- then you found out yesterday what some of us just learned today. Steiner ended up with the TBC jerseys from the Civil Rights Game played 5/15 in Cincinnati. Not sure why MLB decided to wholesale these to Steiner instead of auctioning them on MLB.com, but they did. The bad news -- all the big names already are gone. The good news -- a few jerseys still remain as I write this. If you have $300, you can buy Stavinoha, Reyes or Motte (they played in the game). For $250, you can own Greene, Miller, Franklin, Boggs, McClellan, Lohse, LaRue or coaches McKay, Pettini or Murphy... Just a couple notes about the Phillies as they leave town. First, the color of their Cool Base jerseys doesn't match their road pants, and when the placket curls, it looks like it says "PHILLLIES." So, I guess our shirts could be worse. And second, infielder Cody Ransom is still using a Louisville Slugger from 2009 with the 125th anniversary logo. That bat has to be at least 11 months old.
July 23, 2010. The Cardinals announced today that Whitey Herzog's #24 will be retired during a ceremony on July 31. That number was worn last by Rick Ankiel in a pinch-hitting appearance on 10/4/09. Since Whitey retired in 1990, nine individuals have worn #24, including Eric Davis, Bobby Bonilla and Dmitri Young.
July 24, 2010. Although nine guys wore the soon-to-be-retired #24 after Whitey Herzog, that's nowhere close to a record for the team. Twenty-seven people wore #17 after Dizzy Dean last donned the digits in 1937 (it was retired in 1974). And 18 folks wore #9 after Enos Slaughter, including stars like Roger Maris, Joe Torre and Terry Pendleton. Twelve guys were assigned #14 after Ken Boyer's playing days ended, but only three players wore the number after Boyer was fired as manager in 1980 and replaced by -- Whitey Herzog.
July 25, 2010. Is it just me, or does it seem like the prices being paid for common and semi-star bats have tanked in recent months? High-end bats are still attracting big bucks from well-heeled collectors, but common bats really seem to be suffering. I sold eight bats on eBay tonight, the most expensive being a Placido Polanco for $45. The guy's still playing; he's a .304 lifetime hitter, a multiple Gold Glove winner and a borderline star -- and his bat can't fetch $50? A 2001-era bat from Danny Bautista, arguably the best offensive player for the D'backs in the '01 World Series, sold for $10. And it's not just my bats. A signed gamer from former Redbird Floyd Rayford sold in the most recent Hunt auction for $10. Not long ago, you could expect to realize at least $30-40 for any piece of firewood. Is it just the economy? Has supply caught up with demand? Have we simply lost interest in marginal players from 20-30 years ago? I'd appreciate your thoughts.
