PDA

View Full Version : Weird Collector Stories



skyking26
12-29-2008, 11:06 PM
Let's share some weird collector stories. We all have them, I'll start:

Early 90's. I'm still living at home, get a call from one of my classified ads looking for Dave Kingman items. Guy has a blonde Kingman Worth bat gamer. To date here in 2008, I have pics of Dave using this type bat, but have NEVER seen one available. At the time the guy tells me $200, very high at the time but I agree. He says he is going thru a divorce, so sit tight and wait so he can get into his soon-to-be ex's house and retrieve the bat... I get a call about 2 weeks later that he has the bat, and forward the funds... That has to be one of the wackiest stories I have been faced with in all these years!!!

Anybody else??

mariner_gamers
12-29-2008, 11:30 PM
About 10 years ago my wife's cousin and I are talking at a family function. We start talking sports and I bring up my new obsession of collecting game used Mariners bats. He pauses for a moment and says he has an old bat in his trunk he took from a guy during a fight a few years earlier. The bat now sits in his trunk in case any other "issues" arise. Then he tells me he will go and grab it and if it is something I would like he would be more than happy to give it to me. He comes back into the house with a game used and autographed Alvin Davis bat. The bat appears to be no worse for the wear even after a brawl and sitting in his trunk for years. AD may not mean much to the general public but he is all we had in Seattle during the mid 1980's so I was thrilled!

both-teams-played-hard
12-29-2008, 11:38 PM
I bought an early 70s durene football jersey at a second hand store in Los Angeles. It had a logo on the shoulders that was unfamiliar to me. I assumed, correctly, that it was a high school jersey. I sold it on eBay to a collector that I had known for a few years and shared correspondence and jersey knowledge. After he received the jersey, he told me he thought it was from his former high school. He said he was going to research old yearbooks from the school at the public library. It turns out that the jersey was from his former high school in Michigan. It was the same uniform number and was actually worn by his uncle in the early 70s. This uncle was killed shortly after he played high school football in the early 70s. My friend was a few years too young to have ever met his uncle.

David
12-29-2008, 11:45 PM
One of the eeriest sports items I have seen was a baseball painting by serial killer John Wayne Gacy that was autographed by a plethora of baseball stars and HOFers (Aaron, Mays, Rose, etc) plus Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Evidently the painting owner got the autographs at shows. Even though the painting was signed by Gacey in the corner, it appears the other signers did not realize the identity of artist— I assume they would have refused to sign if they did know. They just assumed they were signing someone's amaturish and benign-looking sports art.

skyking26
12-29-2008, 11:56 PM
One of the eeriest sports items I have seen was a baseball painting by serial killer John Wayne Gacy that was autographed by a plethora of baseball stars and HOFers (Aaron, Mays, Rose, etc) plus Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Evidently the painting owner got the autographs at shows. Even though the painting was signed by Gacey in the corner, it appears the other signers did not realize the identity of artist— I assume they would have refused to sign if they did know. They just assumed they were signing someone's amaturish and benign-looking sports art.
I'm familiar with Gacy's "art." He is one of the most lothsome creatures that crept from the gutter, and it can only be that the people you mention were not aware of the connection. I have often heard he sold his art and can only hope that any profits were attributed to victims families...

Vintagedeputy
12-30-2008, 12:08 AM
One of the eeriest sports items I have seen was a baseball painting by serial killer John Wayne Gacy that was autographed by a plethora of baseball stars and HOFers (Aaron, Mays, Rose, etc) plus Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Evidently the painting owner got the autographs at shows. Even though the painting was signed by Gacey in the corner, it appears the other signers did not realize the identity of artist— I assume they would have refused to sign if they did know. They just assumed they were signing someone's amaturish and benign-looking sports art.


I've seen that. Its at the Crime and Punishment museum in Wash. DC

Dewey2007
12-30-2008, 12:36 AM
In 1982, when the Raiders were still practicing in Alameda but playing in Los Angeles, a friend and I used to go to their training facility to get autographs. It's close to Thanksgiving and Marcus Allen is leaving the facility. He signs a couple of autographs and gives my friend a practice jersey. Then out of the blue he asks him if he wants a ham too. The team had given all the players hams to take home for the holiday but Marcus was young and single at the time and had no need for it I guess. My buddy gladly accepted and took it home to his mom. I guess you can say he got a Raiders team issued ham!!

skyking26
12-30-2008, 12:43 AM
This story comes from another Kingman collector (not me).

Back in 1989, Kingman is in the defunct now Senior League playing for the Tropics. Guy I know strikes up a conversation with Dave, and Kingman asks him where he is from. Guy says Virgina, and Dave says he'd love a Virginia ham. Guy says he can get one for him, and Dave says, what do you want in return? Guy says your jersey would be great...Dave pulled it off and threw it to him. He still has it today.

I myself have never obtained any game used piece I did not pay thru every orifice for....!

David
12-30-2008, 12:49 AM
The other eerie sports item I saw for auction was the watch Knute Rockne was wearing when he died in a plane crash. The time was stopped at the moment of impact.

joelsabi
12-30-2008, 01:08 AM
I met Yuyo Ruiz at a card show in Chicago and gravitated to his display because of his Clemente collection. I had my camera on hand for the signing of Dan Marino, who i found out was a huge Clemente fan. Marino was even planning to come over to look at a salesman's sample of Clemente world series ring after his signing time was over. I was taking shots of Yuyo's display after being introduce to Yuyo by his nephews that were manning the displays. I told Yuyo what an amazing collection he had and Yuyo offers to take a photo of me with his display. I agree but before he take my camera he opens up the display case and before i knew what was happening he plops some plane debri in my hand. I had never felt so uncomfortable in my life but I took the photo out of respect to Yuyo.

David
12-30-2008, 02:05 AM
As far as weird pieces of sports memorabilia go, I think nothing tops Ty Cobb's false teeth which currently reside in the Hall of Fame Museum.

tym
12-30-2008, 02:05 AM
About 10 years ago my wife's cousin and I are talking at a family function. We start talking sports and I bring up my new obsession of collecting game used Mariners bats. He pauses for a moment and says he has an old bat in his trunk he took from a guy during a fight a few years earlier. The bat now sits in his trunk in case any other "issues" arise. Then he tells me he will go and grab it and if it is something I would like he would be more than happy to give it to me. He comes back into the house with a game used and autographed Alvin Davis bat. The bat appears to be no worse for the wear even after a brawl and sitting in his trunk for years. AD may not mean much to the general public but he is all we had in Seattle during the mid 1980's so I was thrilled!

That is a weird story as Alvin is a very religious man. He was also the M’s rookie of the year and the first inductee into the M’s Hall of Fame. Seems funny his bat would be used like that J

commando
12-30-2008, 12:35 PM
I was living in Denver back in 1996, and Ray Nitschke came to town for a signing at a card show. I was 25 years old at the time, and was not old enough to have seen him play. Regardless, he was my favorite player of all time because he seemed like a really down to earth person, but was quite a fearsome beast on the playing field.

I went to the event and paid for Ray to sign a jersey (the signature cost maybe fifteen dollars?) There was no line there at the time, so Ray also graciously posed for a photo with me. Well, right around that time, a couple of middle-aged burnout sports fans started heckling me because I wasn't a Packers fan or old enough to have even seen Nitschke play... They were being pretty obnoxious to say the least. Next thing I know, Ray starts yelling back at the guys, telling them their comments aren't necessary and they don't know what it means to be a fan.

No one realized that Ray would leave us less than two years later. I certainly got more than I bargained for when I showed up at that card show for an autograph that day!

skyking26
12-30-2008, 01:01 PM
Aproximately 2003, and my son and I attend an event held in Detroit in conjunction with the Woodward Dream Cruise - a number of 68 Tigers were there signing.

All guys were free, 1 sig per. My son and I went thru, got our items signed, then put our items in the truck. I realized it would be cool to run thru and get a quick photo or 2, so we went thru the line. The promoter (a friend) noticed us and asked my to take some stuff thru for him. I said no problem. Next thing I know, Willie Horton is yelling at me in front of my kid because we were already in line. I told him this was for the promoter, who now was cowering behind things... He proceeded to berate myself and my 8 year old. I told him I did not give a damn if he signed the shit anyway as it was not mine. He finally said, "well, if it is for the boy..." I said, apparently you weren't listening" and left it all there.

Point: Willie Horton is a huge star, in his own mind. I didn't do anything wrong...

joelsabi
12-30-2008, 01:16 PM
I met Yuyo Ruiz at a card show in Chicago and gravitated to his display because of his Clemente collection. I had my camera on hand for the signing of Dan Marino, who i found out was a huge Clemente fan. Marino was even planning to come over to look at a salesman's sample of Clemente world series ring after his signing time was over. I was taking shots of Yuyo's display after being introduce to Yuyo by his nephews that were manning the displays. I told Yuyo what an amazing collection he had and Yuyo offers to take a photo of me with his display. I agree but before he take my camera he opens up the display case and before i knew what was happening he plops some plane debri in my hand. I had never felt so uncomfortable in my life but I took the photo out of respect to Yuyo.

I believe it was 1999 when i meet him. later Yuyo tried selling his collection and the Clement family were going to sue. I just looked up this article on the web:


NEW YORK - Debris from the plane crash that killed Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente was pulled from a memorabilia auction after his family threatened a lawsuit.

Seaford, N.Y.-based Lelands.com announced Friday it was pulling two items - a light metal piece of the airplane and a gray steel propeller - from the collection of four dozen Clemente mementos.

Clemente died Dec. 31, 1972, when the DC-7 he was on crashed after takeoff from San Juan, Puerto Rico. The plane was headed to Nicaragua with supplies for earthquake victims.

Clemente's family two weeks ago said it was considering legal action to stop the auction house from selling the airplane parts. Roberto Clemente Jr. said in a statement then that the family "will not tolerate anyone trying to benefit from my father's passing."

Lelands.com plans to return the light metal piece, measuring 19 inches by 14 inches at its largest point, to the collector who consigned the item into the auction. The propeller will be donated to the Puerto Rico Sports Museum.

"Just like hundreds of historical items that are on display in museums throughout the world or are sold privately or in auctions every day, these two items are of great historical significance," Lelands.com founder Josh Evans said in a statement Friday. "We believe that they help completely tell the story of Roberto Clemente, his philanthropy and the price he paid to help people in need. We believe that they should be on display to honor his legacy.

"On the other hand, the wishes of the Clemente family need to be respected and once we found out that they objected to the sale, we realized that the right thing to do was to remove the items from the auction," Evans said.

Other items in the auction, which ends June 24, include a glove Clemente used in a game in the 1960s; an autographed photo of his 3,000th, and final, career hit; an autographed rookie baseball card; and a photograph of Clemente getting a haircut from his hometown barber.

bigtruck260
12-30-2008, 01:50 PM
1996

I am sitting along the stands at old Busch telling a buddy of mine about Ron Gant, one of the newer guys on the team. I think my exact words were - that dude is just cockstrong, and is one of the biggest baseball players I have ever seen...I kept talking about his physique and describing his pipes in a way only an affectionate fan (or homosexual stalker) could.

This little blonde lady walks over and says "I can get you his jock if you are interested" - with a straight face. I start stammering..."I'm serious, if you really want it, I can get it for you." Realizing what I must have sounded like, I started walking away awkwardly with my friend. Then she starts sreaming..."Ronnie! hey Ronnie! - Gant, who is shagging BP jogs over with his Oakleys and wristbands...and other 'star player' bling - and gives this lady a hug - AND a kiss on the mouth.

It was his wife. After making me feel uncomfortable, he signed my hat and offered me his wristbands. Already feeling like a turd - and not even close to collecting that kind of stuff, I turned him down thinking he was joking.

It was a good summer. I made some friends.

yanks12025
12-30-2008, 02:05 PM
Joel,
Do you have a photo of the debri.

godwulf
12-30-2008, 02:09 PM
I don't think anyone's going to be able to top Dave's "jock" story; nevertheless, it reminded me of something that happened a few years ago.

Scott Hairston was doing a signing, during his Diamondbacks days, and I was in line behind a young woman of about twenty, who asked him to sign a purple DBacks logo thong. No, she wasn't wearing it, but Hairston was still pretty embarrassed, and then she wanted another woman (it looked like it might have been her mother) to take a photo of Hairston, her, and the thong.

As she was walking away, I stepped up to the table and said, "Don't worry Scotty, I'm not gonna ask you to sign my underwear." We all had a good laugh, and Hairston said, "Good, 'cause I'm afraid I'd have to say 'No'."

yanks12025
12-30-2008, 02:14 PM
Godwulf,
Somebody should do that with Jason Giambi but with a gold Thong.

mariner_gamers
12-30-2008, 03:07 PM
1996

I am sitting along the stands at old Busch telling a buddy of mine about Ron Gant, one of the newer guys on the team. I think my exact words were - that dude is just cockstrong, and is one of the biggest baseball players I have ever seen...I kept talking about his physique and describing his pipes in a way only an affectionate fan (or homosexual stalker) could.

This little blonde lady walks over and says "I can get you his jock if you are interested" - with a straight face. I start stammering..."I'm serious, if you really want it, I can get it for you." Realizing what I must have sounded like, I started walking away awkwardly with my friend. Then she starts sreaming..."Ronnie! hey Ronnie! - Gant, who is shagging BP jogs over with his Oakleys and wristbands...and other 'star player' bling - and gives this lady a hug - AND a kiss on the mouth.

It was his wife. After making me feel uncomfortable, he signed my hat and offered me his wristbands. Already feeling like a turd - and not even close to collecting that kind of stuff, I turned him down thinking he was joking.

It was a good summer. I made some friends.

Ok, that was so funny I had to read it to my wife. Both of us are almost in tears cracking up!! Awesome story, thanks for sharing!!!

Davis

joelsabi
12-30-2008, 04:10 PM
Joel,
Do you have a photo of the debri.

i am pretty sure i have kept it somewhere in a box in the garage. if lost thats fine too since its not something i am proud of. i was considering buying some of the collector's rare photos but felt sick after taking that photo and left the area. you always want to be close to the player you admire but that
experience was too much for me.

thinking of auctioning off the plane debri is incomprehensible to me. can you imagine someone trying to sell building debri from the world trade center after 9/11? don't tell me someone did that too?

yanks12025
12-30-2008, 04:23 PM
Joel,
They want to collect it because it was apart of history.

Also a company did make coins that were 25% steel from the World Trade Centers.

sylbry
12-30-2008, 08:26 PM
This happened to a friend of mine.

He purchased a 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie from a seller on ebay. He was happy to finally get one until he received it and noticed it was trimmed. Six months later he listed the card on ebay with full disclosure that the card was trimmed. The card sold and he made a small profit. What makes the story funny is the original seller, the one who didn't disclose the trim job was also the purchaser of the card.

sylbry
12-30-2008, 08:51 PM
And here is one that happened to me.

Back in college my roommates and I would watch the local teams, have some drinks, and cheer for that not very good but tries real hard player. Players who we cheered for at the time were Chris Walsh of the Vikings, Brian Buchanan of the Twins, and Dusty "the moondog" Rychart of the Gophers (whom I went to high school with).

Later, I found a Brian Buchanan game worn Twins jersey on ebay. I bought it as kind of a joke Christmas present for one of my roommates. After I won the jersey I received the invoice from the seller. The seller was no other than Dusty Rychart, who was getting rid of extra stuff as he was moving to Australia to play pro ball in their league.

suicide_squeeze
12-30-2008, 09:46 PM
I even remember the date......

It was August 7th, 1999....

I was in Vegas, as I made about 3-4 trips there a year. Living in Los Angeles, and being a graduate of UNLV, my wife and I used to go ALL of the time.

I had been collecting for a few years now, and had made contact with Victor and Keita....if anyone here needs any more info than that, email me, but I am leaving last names (and their company name) out so I don't get sued. I was going to buy a few baseballs from them, and asked if I could meet them to pick them up and save on the shipping.

They were very gracious.....even invited me to their house (I don't even know if they're married....another thread). I'm telling you....it was out of a Herman Munster episode.

I walked into the house they ran their business out of (remember, this was early on in their companies existence)....some walls painted dark burnt-red, their was a guy dressed like a cross between Elvis presley and Vinny out of the Godfather, who looked like he may have been packing a piece. But he was real nice too.....:o

Here's the funny part......while I was checking out the baseballs I was emailed pictures of for sale.......Keita was checking out my wife....the whole time we were there! I heard her asking my wife "Can I get you anything to drink?"....."Can I take you upstairs!?":eek: It started to become a standing joke there. Victor kept smiling and directing me away from them.....I kept one eye on Elvis, and another on my wife.....I think I ended up buying balls I didn't even go to purchase just to get done and OUT of there!

I picked out the two balls I wanted, paid, grabbed my hot wife, and got the hell OUT of there! We laughed about it for months....we refer to that episode as "Our Munsters vacation"....

From now on, I happily pay shipping.

Ripken
12-30-2008, 10:02 PM
The other eerie sports item I saw for auction was the watch Knute Rockne was wearing when he died in a plane crash. The time was stopped at the moment of impact.

David,

I actually held that watch in my hand. It was sold at auction by the Sports Collectors Store in Chicago back in about 1995. It was ICE COLD. One of the most eerie experiences I've ever had.

metsbats
01-01-2009, 12:37 AM
Many years ago I brought a Rafael Santana game used bat from a fellow collector. When I opened up the box I received a Bob Ojeda game used bat instead. Everyone knows a Bob Ojeda bat is rare and instead of asking to return it I offered the collector the same price for the Ojeda and he said yes. I eventually sent him payment for the Santana and ended up with both bats.

It was just a strange way to come across and obtain a bat which I was looking for to add to my collection anyway.

cohibasmoker
01-01-2009, 09:55 AM
Years ago, when the National Sports Convention was in Atlantic City, as a friend and I were walking around the show, we walked by a dealer’s table who had a slew of Don Mattingly items including more than a few Don Mattingly bats for sale. All of the bats looked game used but they had different prices on them.

Well, we stopped and as we were asking the seller his prices on the items he had, we asked what the deal was with the different bat prices? We come to find out that while some of the bats were game used bats, others were not.

As the conversations continued, the seller told us that Don had a batting cage at home and he would crack bats. The seller also told us that he thought the batting cage bats were pretty much worthless and that’s why he was selling them so cheap. We bought what we could and asked if he had others? We were astonished to learn that the seller had barrels of them at home – both cracked and uncracked.

Who was the seller? Don Mattingly’s Father-In-Law.

Jim

flaa1a@comcast.net

skyking26
01-01-2009, 10:00 AM
Interesting that the father-in-law was set up at a National making $$ off his daughter's husband... Unreal. Wonder how Don felt about that...

cohibasmoker
01-01-2009, 10:19 AM
Interesting that the father-in-law was set up at a National making $$ off his daughter's husband... Unreal. Wonder how Don felt about that...

I personally don't know how Don felt but the seller had a ton of signed Mattingly items.

Jim

skyking26
01-01-2009, 10:28 AM
I personally don't know how Don felt but the seller had a ton of signed Mattingly items.

Jim
I'm sure Don did not know about it. I know if my daughter was married to a ballplayer I wouldn't be out hawking his stuff like that, but that is just me...

joelsabi
01-01-2009, 10:29 AM
I personally don't know how Don felt but the seller had a ton of signed Mattingly items.

Jim

LOL. This is priceless story if youre a Mattingly fan.

joelsabi
01-01-2009, 10:34 AM
As far as weird pieces of sports memorabilia go, I think nothing tops Ty Cobb's false teeth which currently reside in the Hall of Fame Museum.

Along these lines. The infamous hemroids gloves as told by member DonFan23

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=18160&page=2&highlight=liver

joelsabi
01-01-2009, 10:40 AM
Here is my favorite Mattingly story. Dont thinks its weird but worth a read.
As told by member BernBabyBern.


http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=13683&page=3&highlight=hotel+mattingly

godwulf
01-01-2009, 11:51 AM
Metsbats' story about getting the wrong bat in the mail reminded me of something that happened to me about ten years ago.

I'd ordered three bats from Rob Wochnick at Sports Warehouse, and I received the box at my work address. Two of the bats were right, but the third was not the bat I ordered, being a black Cooper with the name "Booger Munoz" inscribed on it.

I walked out of my office with the bat in my hands, and said, "Who the Hell is Booger Munoz?" Some of my co-workers gathered round, and someone speculated that, considering the player's name, "that might not all be pine tar on the handle".

Anyway, "Booger Munoz" became a sort of running joke in the office, which some long-time employees still refer to. I now have a collection of Pedro "Booger" Munoz cards on my office wall. I've come close to buying a Munoz jersey a couple of times, to hang in the office as a gag, but the bidding always goes higher than I want to pay for a joke.

joelsabi
01-11-2009, 07:39 PM
Joel,
Do you have a photo of the debri.

2 weeks of vacation at home allowed me to clean up areas i usually dont get to and i found a photo of the debri in the display case. its on the bottom row on the far right. the gentleman in the photo is the owner of all the items in the display case.

frikativ54
01-11-2009, 07:49 PM
2 weeks of vacation at home allowed me to clean up areas i usually dont get to and i found a photo of the debri in the display case. its on the bottom row on the far right. the gentleman in the photo is the owner of all the items in the display case.

Wow, I don't know how I could live with myself if I owned plane-crash debris. Something about being "that close" to a player makes me uncomfortable. After all, shouldn't these guys have a private space? The plane debris is worse than players' underwear IMO.

yanks12025
01-11-2009, 08:06 PM
Plane debri is kinda bad and also the watch that the one guy was wearing when he died, knowing thats the time that he passed away at. But i think it would be kinda cool to own the gun that John wilkes Booth used to shoot Lincoln or the rifle used by the mystery man hiding in the grassy nole that shot the magic bullet in JFK's assassination.

skyking26
01-11-2009, 08:14 PM
But i think it would be kinda cool to own the gun that John wilkes Booth used to shoot Lincoln or the rifle used by the mystery man hiding in the grassy nole that shot the magic bullet in JFK's assassination.


????? -

yanks12025
01-11-2009, 08:20 PM
skyking26,

I know its weird but its all about it being apart of american history.

both-teams-played-hard
01-11-2009, 08:32 PM
But i think it would be kinda cool to own the gun that John wilkes Booth used to shoot Lincoln or the rifle used by the mystery man hiding in the grassy nole that shot the magic bullet in JFK's assassination.
Oswald wasn't behind the grassy knoll, he shot Kennedy from a window in the school book suppository.

yanks12025
01-11-2009, 08:39 PM
I know both-teams-played-hard, its always been rumored that there was a second gunmen in the grassly nole.

TFig27
01-11-2009, 08:40 PM
Oswald wasn't behind the grassy knoll, he shot Kennedy from a window in the school book suppository.

The suppository? Sounds like a dirty job.

frikativ54
01-11-2009, 08:45 PM
The suppository? Sounds like a dirty job.

:D :eek: :p Man, I just can't stop laughing!!!

frikativ54
01-11-2009, 08:47 PM
:D :eek: :p Man, I just can't stop laughing!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suppository

yanks12025
01-11-2009, 08:47 PM
The suppository? Sounds like a dirty job.

Better call in Mike Rowe.

both-teams-played-hard
01-11-2009, 08:47 PM
The suppository? Sounds like a dirty job.
It's a job for a "regular" working man.