Tag: Jerseys

Ken Griffey Jr. Jersey

I’ve mentioned before that I have never liked Ken Griffey Jr. But he was a legendary player, and a no-brainer HOFer. Since he did play those 41 games in a Sox uniform, I’m going to collect the guy.

The Griffey signing with Tristar/Mill Creek wasn’t cheap, especially for premium items. And getting a licensed Griffey Sox jersey wasn’t cheap either. This item is definitely one of the most expensive in my collection. Maybe the second most expensive, in terms of what I paid to get it signed. The only item that I know I paid more for is the Michael Jordan 20×24 UDA photo. But I think it’s worth it.

Awesome New Carlton Fisk Items

Carlton Fisk is a player I have come to appreciate more and more as I got older. When I first became a Sox fan in 1991, I was all about the young exciting players. Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, all those good young pitchers, etc. I kind of thought of Fisk as a grumpy has-been.

I didn’t quite realize how great he was in his extended prime. I know now that he was truly one of the best catchers of all-time. And when I met him properly for the first time, he was very nice to me.

Years ago a collector friend of mine had a yearly opportunity to get stuff signed by Fisk for $20 per. I really regret not getting more stuff done then. Every year I’d get a few cards signed. If I had that opportunity again today I think I’d probably send 30+ items. Oh well!

These new Fisk items are now some of my favorite items in my collection. The jersey came from my sales rep at Fanatics. It’s part of a limited 25 piece run that hasn’t been made available to the public. The HOF baseball also came from him. The All-Star baseball came from a collector on Facebook.

   

Bo Jackson Jerseys

It’s possible that there has never been a more larger than life athlete than peak Bo Jackson. Maybe Babe Ruth? Even Michael Jordan seemed more human than Bo did.

Bo was a truly great football player. He played parts of four seasons, and put up some great per game numbers in three of those four seasons. One Bo football stat I love is this: In three of his four seasons, Bo had the single longest run of the season. In such a short career, he had runs of 92, 91, and 88 yards. No other player in the history of the NFL has three runs that long.

He was much more raw on the baseball diamond. It sometimes felt like he was learning how to play baseball in the big leagues, which is nuts. But look at his OPS+. From 1986 to 1990, his OPS+ went 67 – 94 – 108 – 124 – 142. He improved every single year. From 1988 to 1990, his plate discipline got better every year. Were it not for the hip injury, there is a chance Bo could have been a truly great baseball player.

I’ve been wanting to pick up some premium Bo Jackson items for a very long time. I worked some overtime at work, so I finally bit the bullet. I picked up a white Raiders jersey and a black White Sox jersey from Fanatics. I had a pretty good coupon code that brought them into my price range. Both jerseys are Mitchell & Ness authentics.

I hope to get them framed together as a sort of Yin and Yang piece. Something like the image below:

Once these bad boys get framed up, this will be one of the center pieces of my collection.



Luis Robert Private Signing

The folks at Sid’s Graphs and Bergie’s Sports Card Dugout held the first ever public signing with budding White Sox superstar Luis Robert on Monday. I’m starting to think these signings are a Jinx for Robert. Last season, he got hurt right before his private signing, and the same thing happened again this year. Luckily, this year’s injury seems to be minor.

I sent in 6 items this time. Two jerseys and 4 cards. Everything turned out pretty well. I’m slightly disappointed in how the home white jersey turned out. It isn’t terrible, but the pen didn’t perform 100% perfectly. Oh well, what can you do?

I’m holding out hope that Luis can stay healthy and join the ranks of the very best players in baseball. I’m a bit worried that we might now have our own Byron Buxton. In any case, I’m thrilled to have these new items!

   

   

Jose Abreu Private Signing

BM Authentics recently held a private signing with Jose Abreu. This was Abreu’s first signing in quite some time. It was a pretty expensive signing, but I was still excited to send in a few items. I sent in 5 cards and a jersey.

Some of the items turned out great. Unfortunately, some of the items turned out less than great. As you can see in the pictures (click the images to see the full size image), two of the Allen & Ginter cards bubbled fairly badly. The third A&G also bubbled slightly, but it isn’t very noticeable.

I contacted the promoter, but unfortunately they were not willing to do anything. The owner of BM Authentics proved to be very difficult to deal with, so I doubt I’ll be doing further business with them, and I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone else either.

Luckily, the jersey turned out well. The two rookie refractors turned out nicely, though the Topps is too dark for the signature to stand out.

I’m pretty happy to add most of these to the collection. Other than the two $100 (each!) busts, of course.

   

   

Luis Aparicio Private Signing

I never thought I’d see another Luis Aparicio signing. Everything I’d heard pointed towards him being in poor health in Venezuela. But Brian Kritz put together a two part signing at the Venezuela home of the Sox legend.

Unfortunately, Aparicio can no longer sign baseballs. This was a bummer, as I desperately need him on a HOF ball, and I’d love a replacement for my Gold Glove ball that has a fading signature. But I’m not going to complain, as I’m just happy to get some stuff done!

I bought the Mitchell & Ness 1959 jersey ages ago, and figured I’d never be able to get it signed. I wish the signature was a little bit bolder, but it still looks pretty good.

I have one more card in the second round of the signing. With these 7 cards, I now have every Aparicio solo Topps card in a Sox uniform signed.

I’m pretty excited about these additions to the collection. I’m going to sticky this post for a week or two just so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. During that time any new posts will appear under this one.

   

   

   

       

       

   

Best Update EVER!!!

It’s been a while since my last post.  For that, I apologize.  To make it up to you, I present…

THE BEST POST EVER!

I’ll spare you any further buildup.  Here are my new Frank Thomas items… all 14 of them!

First, the multi-signed cards that I finally completed.

Not bad, huh?  How about a few “jumbo” cards, one of which is multi-signed?

Great stuff, right?  Let’s keep going!  How about a baseball?

Okay, just one baseball.  No big deal.  How about 3 16x20s?

16×20 not big enough for you?  Picky, aren’t you?  Fine, here is a 20×24, loaded with inscriptions!

Still not impressed?  Only care about the most premium items?  Well, I guess I can’t satisf… wait, hold on.  What’s this, a jersey?  An authentic World Series jersey?  With 6 inscriptions?  And PSA/DNA authentication?