coxfan
05-05-2014, 09:18 AM
I visited the Braves' stadium game-used store on 5-2. It looked good, with Game-used balls as cheap as $25. Some Hank Aaron Day items were there: I think the Game-used balls from that day were $244; the downstairs store had replicas of the Aaron Day balls for $44, if I recall these prices correctly) There were some autographs from Aaron and others.
A nice new feature was a rack of authenticated hit balls, from singles to triples, priced in the $50-75 range. I think they were all from the 2013 season. I bought a ball authenticated as having been hit for singles by both Minor and Heyward in the 8-11-13 win over the Marlins. That's consistent with MLB.com's play-by-play, which shows Heyward's single coming right after Minor's, with two called balls intervening. It was neat to have a ball authenticated for two hits. Those singles set up a 3-run HR by Freeman that gave the Braves the lead.
I researched the hologram sequence, and found ten balls from that game. The first three were fouls or pitches in the dirt, probably to give the store a supply of in-game balls to sell during the game. Six of the next seven were base hits; clearly, the authenticator was focusing only on hits after getting that initial supply.
An interesting note: A broken bat was authenticated as being broken in that game, and also being autographed in February 2014. I assume the original hologram from the game was on the bat during the autograph session, so the database was updated to include the subsequent autograph.
All of which shows how authentication procedures vary from place to place and time, in response to market and other needs.
A nice new feature was a rack of authenticated hit balls, from singles to triples, priced in the $50-75 range. I think they were all from the 2013 season. I bought a ball authenticated as having been hit for singles by both Minor and Heyward in the 8-11-13 win over the Marlins. That's consistent with MLB.com's play-by-play, which shows Heyward's single coming right after Minor's, with two called balls intervening. It was neat to have a ball authenticated for two hits. Those singles set up a 3-run HR by Freeman that gave the Braves the lead.
I researched the hologram sequence, and found ten balls from that game. The first three were fouls or pitches in the dirt, probably to give the store a supply of in-game balls to sell during the game. Six of the next seven were base hits; clearly, the authenticator was focusing only on hits after getting that initial supply.
An interesting note: A broken bat was authenticated as being broken in that game, and also being autographed in February 2014. I assume the original hologram from the game was on the bat during the autograph session, so the database was updated to include the subsequent autograph.
All of which shows how authentication procedures vary from place to place and time, in response to market and other needs.