MLB Authentication/Auction Error

[swainer]

Has this ever happened to you? I saw the following Blue Jays auction but wasn't able to bid in time. http://auction.mlb.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=187432708&prmenbr=33072944&aunbr=187779418

I called the Jays shop after the auction ended and was able to obtain the Trout ball. The authentication number wasn't in the system yet but I know that can take some time to get the information into the database. I kept checking and the information finally showed up. Here it is...

Hologram number EK053641 was located in the MLB Authentication Database under GAME-USED BASEBALL.
Session Product Description: Session Name: LAA AT TOR
Session Date: June 28, 2012
Autographer:
Authenticator: AUTHENTICATORS, INC.
Additional Information: BATTER - MARK TRUMBO, PITCHER - BRETT CECIL, TOP OF 2, GROUND OUT

I'm hoping this is an MLB authentication error but I'm assuming the auction was incorrect. The thing that stings the most is it was $30 shipping to the US. I sent an email to the Jays shop but I'm guessing they are going to say "Oops...the auction title was incorrect."

[LIMATIME]

The database is correct and was clearly an error in their posting. I would ask for your money back or a credit. It's clearly their mistake.

[Number13]

I had the same kind of issue. Last year I won the auction for what was listed as the jersey that was worn by the Detroit BatBoy during game 5 of the ALDS against the Yankees, but when I ran the number after I received it, it did not show from that game. I learned a tough lesson. I trusted MLB and did not look up the number before the purchase. I emailed MLB a while ago and never heard back.

[coxfan]

If you go to mlb.com, click on the "Scoreboard" tab, and go through that Scoreboard calendar to June 28, you'll find "play-by-play" with the box score. There it is clear that the MLB authentication entry is correct. In the second, Cecil's pitch to Trumbo was grounded out, second to first. Cecil didn't bat as the DH was used.

The auction entry doesn't match the play-by-play for the game, so was somebody's careless clerical error. When contacting the seller, point out the Scoreboard calendar's play-by-play on MLB.com as additional evidence.

[coxfan]

After posting my earlier, I went through the whole play-by-play for that game. Trout didn't ground out until the 8th, when Cecil was no longer on the mound. Prior to that, he flied out, singled, struck out, and homered. The clerical error probably confused "Trout" with "Trumbo" and was ambiguously worded as well, to look like Cecil was batting. The MLB sticker matches the play-by-play.

[coxfan]

My own carelessness: the Trumbo groundout was a 6-3 putout, not 4-3. I find the play-by-play and gameday on mlb.com to be invaluable when researching MLB authentication entries. Sometimes the website retrosheet.org is similarly useful for older games (prior years) that are hard to find on mlb.com.

[swainer]

Thanks for the responses! The Jays responded. They apologized for the error and said they had a Villanueva to Trout that they would repalce it with. I appreciate the offer but I specifically bought the ball because Trout hit it. Not a pitch in the dirt or whatever. I know that is silly but that is my reason. They said I could keep the Trumbo ball though. Kudos to them! They are making the best of a bad situation.

Peace!

John

[coxfan]

I'm glad the Jays replied. Since the auction ad, if I understood correctly, occurred before the database entry, I wonder if the clerk was working from the handwritten notes I have seen the dugout authenticators use. If their writing's as bad as mine, "Trumbo" may have looked like "Trout". But MLB.com typically has the play-by-play posted almost immediately, so the clerk could have checked that in the same two minutes it took me.

[swainer]

Yeah when the auction was running, the information was not in the database. I assumed they had it correct. I could see that happening. The auction title looked like it was slapped together as previously stated. It appeared that Cecil was the batter.

[coxfan]

Another thought: the items from a game are usually authenticated in a number sequence. So if you look at the numbers in your balls sequence from ...642 up ( or even below ...641 to get Trouts first AB) you may find that other balls hit by Trout in that game were authenticated. For example, he had a single, flyout and 8th-inning groundout. If one of those was authenticated ithe same number sequence as the Trumbo ball and you send that number to the Jays, maybe they can find it. A longshot, but it doesn;t hurt to try.