MLB authentication

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

The only concern I have with MLB Authentication is that sometimes the certificates are vague as far as the specifics of items.

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Maybe it's just me, but I would think MLB would do everything in their power to make sure all the baseballs used in the postseason, at least the ones they plan to sell to collectors for huge prices, have certificates that include as much information as possible.

It's true, as you've noticed, that some MLB-authenticated balls have more specific details provided than do others. When you pay for them, just adjust value accordingly. Regardless of the amount of detail provided, they are what they say they are. I have seen Mariners MLB-authenticated balls list 2 or more batters (plays) for a single ball. On the other hand, I've seen Yankee balls that just say they were used in the game. Brock alerted me to the way the Yankees do things - perhaps the Red Sox as well? Like you, I was quite surprised.

I read an article once that described how people are hired by MLB to perform the job of authenticating balls at each stadium. It's amazing to me that the Yankees and Mets don't record ball-by-ball detail.

I've watched the process for the Mariners, both in person and carefully on game replays, and I've never seen a screw-up for any balls I've purchased;i.e-I usually could see the ball rolled out of play to the person who has the job of recording detail for these balls, and I never saw the ball continue to be used: The ball is taken out of play and tossed to a person sitting off in a special area who records the details on a ledger. For the Mariners, a sticker is put on the ball and the sticker number is also written on the ledger. The ball is then tossed into a bucket (or bag-I can't remember), which is sent to the team store (in the stadium) for sale after the 6th inning. Some items are put in MLB auctions, team auctions or kept by the team.

Potential buyers view the ledger, pick out balls they want to buy, then the salesman matches the number on the ledger sheet to a ball, then transfers the detail to another sheet of paper which is included with the ball. Same thing is done later for all the balls that aren't sold during the game.

The only 'mistake' I've noticed is that most of the time only the last play is recorded - the 'recorder' doesn't seem to always be recording everything that happens to every ball. Same for bats - I have a Nelson Cruz HR bat that the MLB only recorded info for the play where he cracked it, and not the previous two at bats.