Sports-Memorabilia -> Fan-Apparel-and-Souvenirs -> Baseball-MLB

Ken Griffey Jr is a baseball player from Cincinnati who has played for the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago White Sox and the Seattle Mariners. The 39-year-old Griffey is a center fielder, and known for his home-run hitting power. He ranks fifth in home runs, and is tied for first place on the list of those who’ve made home runs in the most consecutive games. In late 2008, Griffey became a free agent. His father was baseball player Ken Griffey Sr. who played for Cincinnati.

Ken Griffey Jr started his career with the Seattle Mariners and played there for 11 distinguished and successful seasons. Not known for just home runs and his effortless swing, he was also lauded as a great defensive player, able to dive and slide when necessary and make difficult catches, often leaping high to catch a ball before it could become a home run.

The Seattle stadium that was built to replace the Kingdome, known as Safeco field, is often referred to as The House that Griffey Built. He was an all-star, won numerous awards and made numerous lists of all-time great baseball players while he played for the Mariners. He was even named to the All-Century team in 1999. That same year Ken Griffey Jr. asked to be traded to the Cincinnati Reds, the team his father played for, so he could live closer to his relatives.

He began playing for the Reds during the 2000 season, but with less impressive numbers than his previous years with Seattle. Frequent injuries caused problems for Ken Griffey Jr and slowed him down on the field. In 2004, he became the 20th player ever to make 500 career home runs. In a fitting moment, he made that home run on Father’s Day, with Ken Griffey Sr. watching from the stands in a hit that also tied him with his father’s career hits record of 2, 143. But he finished the year on the injured list.

Despite injuries that benched him throughout the years, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th home run, making him one of only 6 players in baseball history to do so, on June 9, 2008. In July, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox, and by September, had added to his home runs to his 611, making him 5th on the all time list. In October, the Sox declined his expensive contract option, and he became a free agent.

His memorabilia is popular among baseball fans, especially those who are still watching and waiting to see what team he’ll play for next. Petitions were signed by fans who wanted him back to his original baseball home with the Seattle Mariners. Autographed photos of him as well as jerseys and caps are popular items you can find places like eBay. Just be sure to compare the signature with one you know to be authentic to avoid buying a forgery. A photo, signature, or ball hit by Ken Griffey Jr could be the crowning jewel in a baseball collection

Originally posted 2008-12-27 10:23:52. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

There are more collectors of baseball cards than there are of any other type of sports card. It makes sense, when you think about the fact that baseball cards have been in production far longer than any other form of sports card. Baseball card collecting is a pastime rich with tradition and history. Quite a good few baseball card collectors also collect other sports cards and memorabilia, and tend to be quite avid among the various types of collectors. Some enjoy the thrills of opening a fresh box of cards. Others find their thrill in hunting down specific cards, like special inserts or rookie cards.

There are a plethora of means and ways to collect baseball cards, there is no right or wrong way to do it. Many collectors will collect cards that are of their favorite team, and they do it by either collecting team sets, or by collecting single cards.

The History of Collecting Baseball Cards

Nobody is completely, 100 percent sure which baseball card was the very first one to be produced. Even still, the hobby relating to baseball card collecting dates back to the second half of the nineteenth century, which is well over a hundred years ago. The first company that is believed to have produced baseball cards and cards for other sports is a company known as Goodwin & Co., which was the manufacturing company for Old Judge cigarettes and Gypsy Queen cigarettes. The first baseball cards were actually pretty small in comparison to modern day baseball cards, as they were only between an inch and a half and two and a half inches, and they were printed on really thick cardboard. Old Judge picture baseball cards were issued between 1886 and 1890, and there were more than 2000 different cards from this set alone that have since been found and cataloged.

Goodwin & Co managed to have success in marketing their baseball cards and numerous other sports and picture cards along with their cigarettes, and this led other tobacco manufacturing companies to issue their own unique sets of cards. Between 1909 and 1911, the American Tobacco Company had a T-206 set that had a famous Honus Wagner baseball card. Companies in numerous other industries also began to use baseball cards, which they offered as a premium to sell products, including caramel companies, candy companies and gum manufacturing companies.

The Topps Company was able to dominate the market for chewing gum and baseball cards for many years until it lost in an anti-monopoly market in the year 1980, and then in the year 1981 Fleer and Donruss began to make major baseball card sets. Not long after this point, baseball cards became even more important than the products that they were packaged with, and they began to be packaged all on their own, creating a completely new industry. Now there are a myriad of companies that are manufacturing baseball cards including Upper Deck, Score and Pacific.

Photo Credits: tonystl

Originally posted 2009-11-18 03:54:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Most people who are sports enthusiasts, and that collect autographed baseball memorabilia are thrilled when they find the perfect item and it happens to also be autographed by one of their favorite sports stars. This happens to be especially true when the piece of autographed baseball memorabilia is a well preserved bat that has the autograph of the player etched directly into the wood, or written directly on the bat.

This is about more than simply meaning a lot to any collector that has such an item, but the item is typically considered to be priceless because it is hard to replicate these kinds of items. The collector will likely also be aware of the fact that items like these are difficult to preserve, especially when you are talking about vintage baseball bats. In such a regard, the list below is going to detail some of the things that you can do in order to retain your autographed baseball memorabilia in the most preserved state possible.

In order to preserve and to protect your baseball bat, you should lightly spray the area that has been autographed using aerosol hairspray. The hairspray contains lacquer, and this will seal the area without causing any damage to the autograph. However, before you take any chances with spraying your beloved autographed baseball memorabilia, you should try testing that brand of hairspray out on a similar ink type on a separate bat or piece of paper to make sure that the brand you choose is not going to cause any undue harm to your memorabilia.

Once the hairspray has become dry and has sealed the autograph in, you should try only to handle the baseball bat one last time, placing it wherever you plan to store it. The more that you handle a vintage piece of autographed baseball memorabilia, the quicker it is going to deteriorate over time. Every time that you handle the bat you have one more instance of your autographed baseball memorabilia decreasing in value. Unless it is absolutely necessary for you to do so, try to avoid handling this autographed baseball memorabilia at all costs.

Humidity is capable of destroying collectibles. Make sure, then, that you keep your autographed baseball memorabilia away from any opportunities for humidity. Not only could the signature be destroyed when exposed to humidity, but the bat itself could also deteriorate detrimentally because it is made from wood, which can swell and change shape.

It makes sense to want to share your autographed baseball memorabilia with your friends, but make sure that your most valuable memorabilia is stored in protective casing in order to protect it as best as you possibly can. Protecting your autographed baseball memorabilia is vitally important if you want to keep it around for a long time.

Photo Credits: ian_ransley

Originally posted 2009-10-30 03:40:25. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Collecting a memorability sport collection is something that can be truly exciting as a hobby and also truly profitable. Perhaps you have always had an interest in sports, or perhaps you just love collecting items of value. If you are interested in creating your own sport collection, you need to know where to start as well as how to get the most out of the memorabilia that you buy. Sports memorabilia purchased for a sport collection can be truly worthwhile if you decide to purchase memorabilia with a significant past or a significant price tag attached. Today many adults are collecting the same baseball cards and other memorabilia that they kept in shoe boxes as kids. Have you allowed your sport collection to grow with you, or is it time to start a new one?

People have been building up their own unique sport collection concepts for as long as there have been sports to be fans of. This does not mean that all sport related stuff is worth anything. Do not simply go out and collect anything relating to a specific sport, otherwise you will end up with a lot of merchandise that is not worth the paper it is printed on, or the cloth, or so on. What you are going to want to do is become well versed in the sport, its history, the memorabilia that is popular, what people are looking for, and so on. The more that you research when it comes to building a sport collection, the better you will prosper in the end. There is no way for you to tell how much a certain item is going to be worth until you do your homework to figure out what people are actually going to be willing to pay for it.

If you have a favorite baseball or football team, you should study the history of each player to find out who was the best back in the day. You should also specifically look for players that have unique characteristics and qualifications that make their sport collection memorabilia stand out. Sometimes a single unique skill or unusual event will be capable of driving up the price of sports memorabilia significantly. Make sure to study the coaches, the rookies and other special edition memorabilia to build a sport collection that is truly great.

Another thing to keep in mind when building your sport collection is that you need to make sure you are shopping at reputable dealers because there are people out there that are less than reputable. Make sure that you are dealing with people that you can trust. All sports memorabilia should be capable of being authenticated, and do not settle for anything less. This way, you will be safe, and you will be able to guarantee that your entire sport collection is authentic and worth the money that you paid for it.

Photo Credits: cthoyes

Originally posted 2009-06-17 05:22:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter