Is that real? Interesting story about MLB authenticating

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

I thought this was pretty fascinating. The guys who do the authenticating for MLB game-used balls and other things are all law enforcement veterans skilled in preserving the chain of evidence.

https://www.cllct.com/sports-collectibl ... on-an-item

The memorabilia market used to be an absolute cesspool. And it probably still is unless you get stuff right from the team.

I don't buy a ton of this stuff, but this year I bought three game-used balls that have Mets connections. Many of the teams have stadium authenticated shops, and most of the stuff in them is waaaaaaaay beyond what I could afford. The Tigers usually have some things that are within reach. I bought a game-used cap form former Met Rick Anderson from when he was the pitching coach and it was less expensive than buying a regular cap from Fanatics. I bought a Joey Cora locker nameplate from the Pirates for $15. It's large, and a magnet, which is a neat peek into how these things work.

I attended a game in Pittsburgh right after the Mets series this year and there was a ball pitched by Sean Manaea. What's cool is you can go to the website and type in the code and you can learn when it was pitched, the batter, and what happened.

I went to the third game of the White Sox series and they had balls from the first two games. I splurged and got two -- one hit by Lindor and one by Alonso. I display them in a stand that has a holder for a ball, and one for a card.

I thought the article about the elaborate process to authenticate stuff was neat.

[metirish]

That is fascinating, Tony Gwynn eh ?

[Fman99]

Cool story, thanks for sharing