Minor League Equipment Use...

[AutographAddiction]

Does anyone know how many or how often game jerseys are given out to MINOR League players?

What about gloves and bats?

I was wondering if the team provided the bats and gloves or if it came out of the young players pocket...

I'm interested in heading down to a single A team for the Houston Astros and trying to get some game-used stuff from players. But if they are only given 1 glove and 1 jersey of each color per year, well then there is no use. haha, any info on how the equipment is dealt out in the Minor Leagues is appreciated. Has anyone ever gotten game-used Minor league stuff?


THANKS!

[OaklandAsFan]

Not sure I have ever been to a single A ball game so I can't tell you exactly but I do know that in the rookie ball league here in AZ the players have to sign for all their equipment and if they break a bat they need to bring back the broken one to get a new one so they can't give them away.

[AutographAddiction]

Interesting... Well, where I live in the past I have gotten bats from the batboy but never tried for jerseys or anything directly from a player. And I havent been to a game in 6 years so I dont know how its changed...

[jmwill82]

I used to work for in the clubhouse for the Trenton Thunder and the team would pay for only a portion of the bats that they ordered. Jerseys had to be turned in at the end of the year, however usually the team would give each player one jersey to keep (home/away/alt). Most of the players had contracts with the major cleat/glove/bag companies. When a bat would break it was usually just given back to the player after the game which would then end up in the trash. Hope some of this information helps!

[AutographAddiction]

I used to work for in the clubhouse for the Trenton Thunder and the team would pay for only a portion of the bats that they ordered. Jerseys had to be turned in at the end of the year, however usually the team would give each player one jersey to keep (home/away/alt). Most of the players had contracts with the major cleat/glove/bag companies. When a bat would break it was usually just given back to the player after the game which would then end up in the trash. Hope some of this information helps!

So the key for "easy pickups" would be trying to get broken bats or asking a batboy for anything of that sort. What about balls? When I was young I could get up to 10 balls a game( foul balls, HR balls, but mostly BP balls from players) but I have heard of friends my age (16) who had no luck when asking players. What was the situation about the balls and how much were available? Thanks!

[jmwill82]

In Trenton, the bat boys were instructed to always give the broken bats back to the players. Usually they would just drop them off in the player's locker. Your best bat is waiting for the players when leaving the stadium. As far as the baseballs go, they were tough for the fans to get. The bat boys would never give them out and they would always stay in the equipment room and used for BP.

[AutographAddiction]

In Trenton, the bat boys were instructed to always give the broken bats back to the players. Usually they would just drop them off in the player's locker. Your best bat is waiting for the players when leaving the stadium. As far as the baseballs go, they were tough for the fans to get. The bat boys would never give them out and they would always stay in the equipment room and used for BP.
good isea. happen to know anything about batting gloves?

[dcgreg25]

As far as jerseys my experience is that most teams issue one set of jerseys that are used throughout the year. I purchased a bunch of Buffalo Bisons jerseys when the team switched affiliations from the Indians to the mets. All of the COA's described the jerseys as being game used in 2007 and 2008 by multiple players that used them during the two-year period.

[AWA85]

From my experience with minor league teams, some of them reuse jerseys for more then one year. While some sell the jerseys after each season. With how the game used industry has expanded you would think this would be the best idea, as some of the organizations make a killing off of the jerseys. All and all, no real luck getting a jersey from a player would be my guess.

Little odds and ends such as a broken bat or batting glove depends on if you can strike up conversation with the player.

[godwulf]

Team end-of-season auctions aside, I've found obtaining Minor League jerseys to be a fairly expensive prospect. I bought a couple of home jerseys from the DBacks' high-A team last year for $200 each, and will probably do the same this year; the club official that I'm dealing with assures me that this is their actual replacement cost.

Hey, on the subject, does anyone live near Charleston, SC and want to go to the September 3rd Riverdogs game and bid on a jersey for me? Greg Colbrunn is their skipper, and they're auctioning off jerseys that night and I would really like to get his. I'm still working on finding out in what format the auction is going to take place, but chances are that I'm going to need somebody there to be my proxy. Win or lose, I'll buy your ticket and refreshments!

[ryant7]

Back before i became a batboy at Slugger Field the key to getting a cracked bat was to actually watch the game and see who cracked one. Right towards the bottom of the Ninth or top depending on if we were winning or not i would move down towards the dugout and when the players come off the field you could see in the dugout if the cracked bats were still there (they would be sitting next to trashcan) you ask the player that broke there bat if you could have it and 9 times out of 10 they would hand it up to you then after the game run around out back and wait for players to come out and get it signed. Then when i became batboy being that i collected it was hard for anyone to get cracked bats anymore cause the players would just give them all to me. but if they didnt they just got put in the trash and i got them later that night anyways. But your best bet to getting cracked bats is immediately following the game you are also going to want to be on the winning teams dugout asking cause the losing team could care less to interact with fans after they just lost. Another sure fire way is to show up during BP there are normally 3-4 cracked bats laying around afterwards and when the players run off the field from taking infield etc... they usually give the stuff up if not the same cracked bats will be sitting by the trash in the dugout after the game also. Hope this helps everyone and i didnt stray to far off the subject, PLayers are very easy to approach they are humans jsut like me and you and one persons trash is our treasure.

[Chris78]

Back before i became a batboy at Slugger Field the key to getting a cracked bat was to actually watch the game and see who cracked one. Right towards the bottom of the Ninth or top depending on if we were winning or not i would move down towards the dugout and when the players come off the field you could see in the dugout if the cracked bats were still there (they would be sitting next to trashcan) you ask the player that broke there bat if you could have it and 9 times out of 10 they would hand it up to you then after the game run around out back and wait for players to come out and get it signed. Then when i became batboy being that i collected it was hard for anyone to get cracked bats anymore cause the players would just give them all to me. but if they didnt they just got put in the trash and i got them later that night anyways. But your best bet to getting cracked bats is immediately following the game you are also going to want to be on the winning teams dugout asking cause the losing team could care less to interact with fans after they just lost. Another sure fire way is to show up during BP there are normally 3-4 cracked bats laying around afterwards and when the players run off the field from taking infield etc... they usually give the stuff up if not the same cracked bats will be sitting by the trash in the dugout after the game also. Hope this helps everyone and i didnt stray to far off the subject, PLayers are very easy to approach they are humans jsut like me and you and one persons trash is our treasure.

One thing I would like to add to this would be that some players are more likely to give a cracked bat to a kid. As you get older, you can still get stuff if your persistent, but the 9 out of 10 rule continues to go down. Also, sometimes wearing the visitor's side team clothing or their MLB affiliation could lead to something as well as the home team tends to have more fans asking for stuff.

Chris

[suave1477]

I can say as far as Brooklyn Cyclones - Mets minor league team.

The Jerseys are harder to get because they usually will recycle the same jersey over and over and over again through out a few seasons till the Jersey isn't just worth wearing anymore.

I have a Brooklyn Cyclones Home Jersey that was used over 3 to 4 seasons by several different players.

The bats are a seperate story some are the players some are the teams it all depends what players have contracts with the bat companies or bat companies trying to get a player to use there bat.
I have seen some players with there name on the barrel while other players just use a regular bat with no name just a model number.

I have seen players give away the cracked bats but I have never seen them give away a good one and I guess in most cases whether they bought them or the team did becaue they are (nobody) at the time, they probably don't get many.

Balls are easy to get I could get anywhere from 5 to 10 a game from BP Balls, Foul Balls, Home Runs. There not that hard to get.

[sox83cubs84]

I've encountered a few minor league teams over the years who try to get their BP baseballs back, even sending pitchers into the stands or outside the field to retrive what they could get themselves and browbeat the fans into giving the ones back. San Jose did that a number of years ago when they visited Modesto to play the A's.

The old Midwest League Kenosha Twins used to have a cranky big guy come out an order game balls to be returned, and rarely was refused, except by Wrigley Ballhawks who went up there to shag. He claimed to be a security guard, but, according to a person in the ticket office, he was lying...he was actually a vendor who would then sell them.

In Evansville, the Triplets once actually called the cops on a Chicago Ballhawk who wouldn't return a "roof ball" (foul ball that leaves the park by flying over the roof of the stadium). He took off (with the ball), and the buddy he went to Evansville with said the cop actually DID show up.

Then, in Kane County, the Cougars, many years ago, battled an epidemic of kids and even adults running out of the stadium to look for roof balls and home runs that left the stadium confines. They finally included in their pregame announcments that any fan who left the park to retrieve a ball would have to buy another ticket to get back in.

Dave Miedema

[ryant7]

One thing I would like to add to this would be that some players are more likely to give a cracked bat to a kid. As you get older, you can still get stuff if your persistent, but the 9 out of 10 rule continues to go down. Also, sometimes wearing the visitor's side team clothing or their MLB affiliation could lead to something as well as the home team tends to have more fans asking for stuff.

Chris
Very true and it really pays to know the players names instead of just hollering can i have that cracked bat, seems like if the player thinks you took the time to know there name and paid close enough attention to the game that you knew there bat cracked they will be glad to give it to you. and as for the age thing yeah im 25 now and highly doubt i could pull off some of the stuff i used too. There were nights i could walk out of the stadium with 3-4 bats just from asking and them handing them up. in between bp and the end of the game you get real funny looks from other stadium goers....