I was there, but I was stupid.

[mrtailgate]

I had a run with this stuff right after college and had a lot of amazing items run through my hands. My semi professional advice is to sell what you have. The majority of people who pursue a lot of this stuff are elderly people who still associate with the players involved. Once our generation passes on the players are not identified with by younger generations.

Funny story. When Schmidt was at 499 Home runs, I called the Pirates and said I was interested in purchasing tickets but was not attending the game. The guy thought I was crazy. I purchased 100 tickets for the Saturday game that Schmidt hit #500. The interesting thing is that my name was printed on the upper left portion of the ticket since it was a “group sale”. They printed the group name onto the tickets for group sales. I then knew people who knew Schmidt and arranged for him to sign 50 of the tickets I think. I asked my friend to ask Schmidt to write #500 Home run on the ticket and he initially bitched about it. Eventually, he signed them but at a higher price per ticket. So whenever I see Schmidt 500 Home run tickets for sale, I always see if my name is printed on the tickets. Most of them are the tickets I had. As soon as Schmidt homered off Don Robinson, my phone rings. It’s the ticket guy at the Pirates. Tells me if I’m interested, he will sell me as many tickets as I want. I already had 100 and was nervous I’d get stuck. I passed. Within a week, I had all 100 sold.

Did the same with some additional milestones. Anyone want full unused tickets to Nolan Ryan’s 300 win game, hit me up. If I told you how many I have, you’d say you don’t believe me.

The one thing I passed on that i still regret? A full signed personal check of Hack Wilson. At that time, the guy wanted as much as I was paying for signed Ruth checks. I passed. Never saw another since that one.

 

[fairgambit]

We got lucky on a big event. Got tickets to a boy scout outing to a Penguin game when my boys were young. Bought the tickets months in advance, but then it turned out to be Mario's return game. We were behind the net that he got his goal in that evening. My son's ticket stubs from that night are with their individual Mario signed memento's. One a Nike hockey stick, like Mario used, signed. The other with a picture of him scoring his goal that night, signed.

Nice!

 

[fairgambit]

Exactly this FairG. I have been collecting sports memorabilia for over 40 years, literally a room full of boxes, some of which may be of some financial value over time and saving it for my son.

Like Fred Sanford I would tell him, "Someday this empire will be yours. There may be some money in this stuff." He doesn't follow sports like I do or know the value of what I have saved. He said to me, "Dad, I don't want to have to go through all this stuff. Sell it and enjoy yourself with the money."

So the excavation procesd has slowly begun. I found things I forgot I even had.

I wish more people talked to their kids about this. If they show an interest, fine. If not, as your son said, think about selling it while you know what it's worth.

 

[fairgambit]

I had a run with this stuff right after college and had a lot of amazing items run through my hands. My semi professional advice is to sell what you have. The majority of people who pursue a lot of this stuff are elderly people who still associate with the players involved. Once our generation passes on the players are not identified with by younger generations.

Funny story. When Schmidt was at 499 Home runs, I called the Pirates and said I was interested in purchasing tickets but was not attending the game. The guy thought I was crazy. I purchased 100 tickets for the Saturday game that Schmidt hit #500. The interesting thing is that my name was printed on the upper left portion of the ticket since it was a “group sale”. They printed the group name onto the tickets for group sales. I then knew people who knew Schmidt and arranged for him to sign 50 of the tickets I think. I asked my friend to ask Schmidt to write #500 Home run on the ticket and he initially bitched about it. Eventually, he signed them but at a higher price per ticket. So whenever I see Schmidt 500 Home run tickets for sale, I always see if my name is printed on the tickets. Most of them are the tickets I had. As soon as Schmidt homered off Don Robinson, my phone rings. It’s the ticket guy at the Pirates. Tells me if I’m interested, he will sell me as many tickets as I want. I already had 100 and was nervous I’d get stuck. I passed. Within a week, I had all 100 sold.

Did the same with some additional milestones. Anyone want full unused tickets to Nolan Ryan’s 300 win game, hit me up. If I told you how many I have, you’d say you don’t believe me.

The one thing I passed on that i still regret? A full signed personal check of Hack Wilson. At that time, the guy wanted as much as I was paying for signed Ruth checks. I passed. Never saw another since that one.

Good Schmidt story. And smart move on your part.

 

[butchnitt]

I was fortunate to have a father who saved everything. He saw Mazersoki's 1960 World Series home run. 40 years later he meets Mazeroski and gets an autograph on the ticket and a picture with him. The first pro football game that I was ever saw was the Immaculate Reception. Because of my dad, I saved the ticket stub. Last year, I was able to get Franco's autograph on the ticket stub and a picture. I won't sell them, because they mean more to me than someone else.

I was a Mickey Mantle fan ever since he came up to the Bigs. I had many Mantle baseball cards; however, my mother was a fanatic about cleaning and probably discarded them. I attended the Don Larsen world series perfect game in 1956 and found the stub many years later while living with my aunt and not my mother. I sent the stub to Don Larsen along with a check and had it autographed. I live in Hazleton and about 8 years ago Joe Madden had Yogi Berra in to his annual charity event. I got Yogi's autograph and now have the stub autographed by Larsen and Yogi. I since gave the ticket to my son but I have a copy.
NOTE: Price on the WS Ticket was $7.35. Can you believe.

 

[Art]

I know my wife would not toss them, and we've lived in the same house for over 40 years, so I hope they are here somewhere. I will take your advice and do a thorough housecleaning. Damn, that's a pain. Anyway, if I find them, I will send you one of the poorest quality, most expensive sweatshirts, from Gambit Worldwide Enterprises.

In return, I'll send you one of the dogbone wrenches.

 

[fairgambit]

In return, I'll send you one of the dogbone wrenches.

Deal!

 

[fairgambit]

I was a Mickey Mantle fan ever since he came up to the Bigs. I had many Mantle baseball cards; however, my mother was a fanatic about cleaning and probably discarded them. I attended the Don Larsen world series perfect game in 1956 and found the stub many years later while living with my aunt and not my mother. I sent the stub to Don Larsen along with a check and had it autographed. I live in Hazleton and about 8 years ago Joe Madden had Yogi Berra in to his annual charity event. I got Yogi's autograph and now have the stub autographed by Larsen and Yogi. I since gave the ticket to my son but I have a copy.
NOTE: Price on the WS Ticket was $7.35. Can you believe.

Wow. The Larsen game is about as big as it gets.

 

[wbcincy]

I have an unused student ticket from JoePa's win #324. I also have my used ticket, but I wrote JoePa #324 on it in marker.... And now I'm going to have to go search for it since I don't know for sure where they are and fair has made me nervous.

 

[fairgambit]

I have an unused student ticket from JoePa's win #324. I also have my used ticket, but I wrote JoePa #324 on it in marker.... And now I'm going to have to go search for it since I don't know for sure where they are and fair has made me nervous.

Tickets are the worst because you can put them just about anywhere. What seemed so obvious when you did it is less so 6 months later. I hope your memory is better than mine.

 

[mrtailgate]

I was a Mickey Mantle fan ever since he came up to the Bigs. I had many Mantle baseball cards; however, my mother was a fanatic about cleaning and probably discarded them. I attended the Don Larsen world series perfect game in 1956 and found the stub many years later while living with my aunt and not my mother. I sent the stub to Don Larsen along with a check and had it autographed. I live in Hazleton and about 8 years ago Joe Madden had Yogi Berra in to his annual charity event. I got Yogi's autograph and now have the stub autographed by Larsen and Yogi. I since gave the ticket to my son but I have a copy.
NOTE: Price on the WS Ticket was $7.35. Can you believe.

Good one. The last stub I had to that game had an interesting autograph on it - Ed Sullivan, the famous entertainer. The person who used the ticket must have seen him at the game and got it signed that day. Kind of an interesting piece.

My fav ticket that I have is game 1 of the Series for two rookies who became better than average players - Mays and Mantle together in their first WS game. 1951 WS Game 1.

 

[kgilbert78]

I was a Mickey Mantle fan ever since he came up to the Bigs. I had many Mantle baseball cards; however, my mother was a fanatic about cleaning and probably discarded them. I attended the Don Larsen world series perfect game in 1956 and found the stub many years later while living with my aunt and not my mother. I sent the stub to Don Larsen along with a check and had it autographed. I live in Hazleton and about 8 years ago Joe Madden had Yogi Berra in to his annual charity event. I got Yogi's autograph and now have the stub autographed by Larsen and Yogi. I since gave the ticket to my son but I have a copy.
NOTE: Price on the WS Ticket was $7.35. Can you believe.

Yeah, things have changed. When I was an exchange student in Germany, through PSU, in 1978, I attended the first leg of European Champions Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Gladbach. Price? 5 Marks. That was about $3.