MLB Authentication Process...

[yankees.stub]

.... Maybe it is just me, but does everyone else think MLB Authentication Process only benefits MLB auctions?

Here are my personal experiences with MLB authentication:

1. I caught mutiple HRs at Yankee Stadium (both New and Old). My season tickets are in Left Field (1st row) next to Monument Park @ the old stadium, in the new stadium - I am also in 1st row in section 103 (got to love the wind-tunnel effect when balls flying off to right field).

2. Some of the names included Alex, Teixeira, Sheffield, Matsui, Posada, Bernie and some rookies from yankees farm system... as for the rest of the league, I have a bunch of others.

3. After getting the HR ball, I always contact security and asked for MLB employee who always at the stadium to authenticate items related to the game - just in case the game become something historical. After multiple times being told - UNLESS I GAVE THE BALL TO THE YANKEES IN EXCHANGE FOR SOMETHING ELSE, THE HOMERUN BALL WILL NOT BE AUTHENTICATED.

3A. Yes, I do have photo from the game when the HR ball hit and landed. I even have video converted to DVD from Sportscenter and other sources showing I caught the HR ball.



4. Now seeing how much these HR balls going for, in Alex case - I was thinking selling or better yet trade some of these HR ball. (yes I was there, the ball landed one section over from where I am at and worst of all, it landed in the rift-raft country - a walkway where handicap fans sit, which accumalate a ton of ballhawk-wanna-be. At list this season at the new stadium, there will be no rift-raft since all field seating has security who supposed to deny your entry if you dont have tickets in that location).


5. Let's get to the point of this question - why MLB authentication would NOT authenticate for the fans who happen to catch HR ball or even foul ball at the game? Monetary reasons? or they just want to monopolize the authentication process since it is supposed to be the standard. Even though, I still dont trust some of the stuff that has the hologram sticker.


Just wondering what the rest of GU village think about this process. Was it helpful to the fan - more like a business person who has the intention to sell the item, or is it has better purpose to inflate auction price?

[allstarsplus]

There is a MLB Database for Player Collected HR Balls. If you gave them the ball, that is where it would be classified. Kind of like HappyYoungsters ball for Coghlan's first MLB HR. I have Adam Dunn's 1st Washington Nationals HR that is authenticated like that too.

There is no system to authenticate "Fan" Caught HR balls although I think there should be especially if there was a reasonable charge to replay the video and see it was you who caught it then the ball would become the official HR ball.

The problem with the system now is the "chain of custody" just like you have in crime scenes can't be verified once the ball goes out of the field of play (except for significant games where the balls are pre-coded). In the authenticator training they are showed a fan catch a HR ball and stick it in 1 pocket and throw a ball from his other pocket on to the field. It probably happens often when visitors hit HRs.

Its a great discussion and wish they would accomodate the fan on these where I for one would have no problem paying $75 to get one of my HR balls authenticated like that.

Maybe some of the Ball Hawks can throw there .02 in!

[CampWest]

MLB pays a company to have authentication representatives. Its not a free service. Why should they give their service to you for free?

Generally, they only have one authentication representative at the game. How could they track down and authenticate each ball that entered the stands, while also being at the field tracking bats, helmets, and other items leaving the field of play. Say you caught a ball on a 3-2 count and there were balls fouled into the upper deck, left field foul, right field foul, straight back and a bat broken.

How precisely should MLB authenticate every single item from a game and ensure in the thick of all the action that some dude in the stands isnt giving them a bogus item for his own personal profit?

Logistically, its as near impossible as it could be for one person. And frankly, it leads to a lack of reliability to be chasing down and authenticating items that the authenticator cannot 100% guarantee accuracy on in most cases.

If I caught a historic HR and MLB had a representative on site to authenticate it, great, but I certainly wouldnt expect them to.

[yankees.stub]

I would have PAID to have some to HR balls authenticated - my pricing was about $100 each.

It is getting to the point of annoying the MLB personel at Yankee Stadium, I became friend with couple authenticators and trust me on this - they are VERY VERY STRICT when it comes to FAN related item.

Maybe MLB might find this forum and dollar signs will pop up.

There is a STEINER store at the new yankee stadium - I have brought the idea to management of the store and hopefully it will relay to Brandon. But again it comes back as - we can go over MLB process. They can only go right after MLB has authenticate the item.

Double authentication? What is the reason for that? What a waste! Just my opinion!

[joelsabi]

How precisely should MLB authenticate every single item from a game and ensure in the thick of all the action that some dude in the stands isnt giving them a bogus item for his own personal profit?

Logistically, its as near impossible as it could be for one person. And frankly, it leads to a lack of reliability to be chasing down and authenticating items that the authenticator cannot 100% guarantee accuracy on in most cases.



Good point. Baseball have to be the hardest item to authenticate just because it is the only object that goes out of the field of play, aside from the few bats that have gone into the stands. But who carries a bat in their pocket for a switcharoo.

[mbrieve]

I always assume that the "foul" balls that are collected and authenticated as such are the ones that are fouled into the screens and easy to identify. I guess I shouldn't assume that, but it makes the most sense...

[CampWest]

So now the authenticator would be getting paid based on the quantity of items authenticated, which frankly provides incentive to authenticate falsely. This is a bad thing... It degrades impartiality. There is now a financial incentive to loosen standards. We've all seen bad graders and bad authenticators. Lets not propose compromising a generally pretty strong authenticator.

They are very strict for a reason. They have to be very strict for their authentication to carry the highest credibility. If they start making exceptions for you and others in the stands, it degrades credibility.

This is why they had special invisible ink on the Bonds and McGwire at bats in the HR chases... And extra staff in the stands to help secure the ball as it entered the stands. Thats not a realistic option for every item entering the stands.

Sorry bro, while I understand why you want it... I just don't think its a good idea, nor do I think MLB is unrealistic in their decision to not provide the service. Selig may screw it up eventually, but for now I think they are doing the right thing and being VERY STRICT and unbiased.


I would have PAID to have some to HR balls authenticated - my pricing was about $100 each.

It is getting to the point of annoying the MLB personel at Yankee Stadium, I became friend with couple authenticators and trust me on this - they are VERY VERY STRICT when it comes to FAN related item.

[yankees.stub]

... So pretty much, MLB Authenticate serves only one purpose then ... to make the item more valueable in the auction process?

Monopolize much?


(Beside some of the stuff authenticated and then given to the Hall Of Fame Museum - I am all for that idea).

[allstarsplus]

I always assume that the "foul" balls that are collected and authenticated as such are the ones that are fouled into the screens and easy to identify. I guess I shouldn't assume that, but it makes the most sense...

Your assumption is correct that they are not authenticating balls that left the field of play unless they witnessed the ball bounce back on to the field, but also keep in mind that they aren't authenticating many balls during non-significant games anyways so the authenticator is collecting many balls and may not choose to slap a hologram on it for a variety of reasons.

This happens occasionally with a HR ball that will hit a railing and come back in the field of play.

Some stadiums request more than 1 authenticator.

I have told this story on here many times and will say that almost all the HRs in RFK Stadium in Washington would land beyond the fence and never reach the seats so if you ever have seen the outfield in RFK you would no why so there was 1 authenticator in the bullpen and 1 in the dugout. They would retrieve the HR balls and authenticate them and use them for contest winners. It was great.

The Tigers have 1 authenticator in the LF bullpen and they retrieve HR balls.

Should teams put 1 authenticator in the OF stands? Again, the chain of custody would be the only problem unless as I suggested before the umpire pre-marks every ball that will be used during the game with a special code so that you can readily authenticate the HR ball has a special code. Very similar to what that ARod 500 HR ball has on it. It would be a different code for every game so this way you could then pay a small fee to get foul balls and HR balls authenticated and MLB would see it as a money making venture.

Read the last paragraph: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/sports/baseball/21authenticate.html

[CampWest]

Well if they're putting a code on every baseball, why put a separate code for each game? You'd still have to figure out which ball went with which event. If thats the goal then, why not put a truly unique code on each ball manufactured for game use and scan it at every pitch.

Then you need no stickers, no authenticators, no chasing down the balls, no worry about chain of control, and virtually eliminates worrying about errors or mistakes or fraud, it would be nearly 100% fail proof ... each ball fully inventoried and accounted for each time it was used on the field. Now if only we can figure out a way to build a scanner and transmitter into each pitcher's glove. hmmm

[CampWest]

Monopolize??? Huh? MLB hires a service company to perform a function. If you want to hire a Yankees.stub authenticator to follow you around and stick your sticker on things, nobody is stopping you.

I think you are overly accusatory and being a little irrational on this. Nothing in what they are doing is any sort of monopolistic endeavor.

The authenticator does not work for you and they are not responsible for authenticating anything and everything. As AllStarPlus said, each authenticator chooses what and when to authenticate.

Its not a monopoly for them to refuse to slap their sticker on some ball some dude shows them.


... So pretty much, MLB Authenticate serves only one purpose then ... to make the item more valueable in the auction process?
Monopolize much?
(Beside some of the stuff authenticated and then given to the Hall Of Fame Museum - I am all for that idea).

[joelsabi]

Well if they're putting a code on every baseball, why put a separate code for each game? You'd still have to figure out which ball went with which event. If thats the goal then, why not put a truly unique code on each ball manufactured for game use and scan it at every pitch.

Then you need no stickers, no authenticators, no chasing down the balls, no worry about chain of control, and virtually eliminates worrying about errors or mistakes or fraud, it would be nearly 100% fail proof ... each ball fully inventoried and accounted for each time it was used on the field. Now if only we can figure out a way to build a scanner and transmitter into each pitcher's glove. hmmm

interesting. an umpire with a scanner gun in his back pocket. then the authenticator needs to scanner too to verify the unique code matches.

[CampWest]

interesting. an umpire with a scanner gun in his back pocket. then the authenticator needs to scanner too to verify the unique code matches.

Nahh... not like a bar code... just a "reader" the code can be numbers and letters so anybody with a ball can go punch it into the MLB website and see what pitches it was used for. Authenticator wouldn't need to ever touch another baseball again. They can just focus on bats and jerseys and what not.

[allstarsplus]

Well if they're putting a code on every baseball, why put a separate code for each game? You'd still have to figure out which ball went with which event. If thats the goal then, why not put a truly unique code on each ball manufactured for game use and scan it at every pitch.

Then you need no stickers, no authenticators, no chasing down the balls, no worry about chain of control, and virtually eliminates worrying about errors or mistakes or fraud, it would be nearly 100% fail proof ... each ball fully inventoried and accounted for each time it was used on the field. Now if only we can figure out a way to build a scanner and transmitter into each pitcher's glove. hmmm

Before the umpire rubs up the balls for the game they write a small code on each ball and the authenticator has a sheet with the unique code. Real simple. Easy. When a HR is caught, it is bagged and sealed with the ticket stub for after the game if they want to pay for the authentication. The bag used is held by outfield ushers and has that type of tape like on sealed hospital bags. Once the seal is broken, it can no longer be authenticated.

The authenticator stays after the game anyway. So they will inspect the bag with the HR ball and anyone else that had a coded ball would be considered a foul ball. The HR ball goes into FAN COLLECTED HR database.

[David]

This last year I witnessed someone being given a complimentary COA on the spot for an Ichiro home run ball, and I've also heard of the Draconian MLB hologram hoops, so I don't know what are the universal rules.

[yankees.stub]

Hmmm, my main question is why they choose to authenticate some and not others?

The some that they authenticated ---- ALL ENDS UP IN AUCTION!


As for having one going around to authenticating anything and everything, that is just non-sense.... oops, they already did that ... when they get stuff from the old Yankee stadium.


So again, why do MLB paid for authenticator to be at the game - just to authenticate the items when they are putting up for auction later? Why doesnt PSADNA or even JSA have booth in the stadium with access to instant replay to authenticate fan-friendly item?


If I ever see GAI, I will run so fast it is not even funny!


Monopolize??? Huh? MLB hires a service company to perform a function. If you want to hire a Yankees.stub authenticator to follow you around and stick your sticker on things, nobody is stopping you.

I think you are overly accusatory and being a little irrational on this. Nothing in what they are doing is any sort of monopolistic endeavor.

The authenticator does not work for you and they are not responsible for authenticating anything and everything. As AllStarPlus said, each authenticator chooses what and when to authenticate.

Its not a monopoly for them to refuse to slap their sticker on some ball some dude shows them.

[yankees.stub]

Before the umpire rubs up the balls for the game they write a small code on each ball and the authenticator has a sheet with the unique code. Real simple. Easy. When a HR is caught, it is bagged and sealed with the ticket stub for after the game if they want to pay for the authentication. The bag used is held by outfield ushers and has that type of tape like on sealed hospital bags. Once the seal is broken, it can no longer be authenticated.

The authenticator stays after the game anyway. So they will inspect the bag with the HR ball and anyone else that had a coded ball would be considered a foul ball. The HR ball goes into FAN COLLECTED HR database.



GREAT IDEA...


Hey Bud, here is another opportunity for you to make more money for die-hard fan!


I fully support it if it happens!