Jesse Barfield - 1989 Blue Jays Cap

[vballGuy]

Hi all,

What are your thoughts on this cap? Does anyone know what size Jesse Barfield wore throughout his career?

Dave Miedema, if you get a chance to look at this, I'd love to hear your opinion.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...%3DI%26otn%3D1

Thanks,

Tim

[Lokee]

includes Letter of Authenticity from game-used expert Lou Lampson.

At least you know it's real LOL

[sox83cubs84]

Tim:

Email sent.

Dave Miedema

[vballGuy]

So I ended up winning this auction. For $50, I took a risk in that the purposed Jesse Barfield cap from 1989 was authenticated by Lou Lampson himself. But I took the risk because the tagging seemed to match up and the cap itself looked legit. The only real question was whether or not the "Diamond Collection" tag should have been present on a real 1989 gamer. Records show that New Era began issuing the Diamond Collection caps in 1986, but it was speculated that they didn't actually make it to the field until 1991.

Some of this confusion was cleared up tonight. I met Jesse Barfield this evening at a fan autograph session at the Rogers Centre before tonight's game. I was pretty much the first in line. When I showed Jesse the cap, I asked him if there was a chance that this was his, and that I won it in an online auction. When he looked at the cap, his face lit up. He started smiling and said to me that it was "definitely possible". He analyzed it for about 2-3 minutes (there was a large line up of people trying to get autographs and I think I pissed off a few people) -- he was definitely fascinated with the cap. After looking at it for 2-3 minutes, he told me a few pieces of valuable information:

1. The Blue Jays began using the all navy blue caps in 1989 in their road uniforms. He distinctively remembered this style of cap because it was a change in the uniform (previously, the Jays wore the blue and white caps for both home and away games). He said he knows for certain that the Diamond Collection tag was present on Blue Jay gamers from 1989. When he recognized the tag, he knew it was from 1989.

2. He confirmed his hat size of 6 7/8" -- which of course matches the size of the cap.

3. He said that the markings under the cap ("Barfs" nickname and "JB" in the underside of the cap) were characteristic of his caps.

As such, he inscribed it for me as "Game Used 1989". I realize that having a players authentication isn't the end-all-and-be-all, but he really did take the time to analyze the piece and give me some feedback. At least now I have more confidence that this in fact could be his gamer from 1989, which would make it a very rare and interesting piece.

He also said I had a beautiful family, which I was very appreciative of.

All in all, Jesse Barfield's a great guy, and it was awesome getting some more information on this cap.

I've posted some pictures for your enjoyment.

[platinum1]

cool story

[sox83cubs84]

cool story

+1...glad to hear of the delightful exchange you and he had.

Dave Miedema