Ballpark Memorabilia

[Gooseamania]

i was just reading the polo grounds picture thread and it gave me the idea to start a thread about ballpark memorabilia. does anyone have anything from past our current ballparks? dirt,signs,sod,seats,etc. anything at all? i don't have anything, but i though it would be interesting to see what people do have, pictures would be appreciated.

[six4three]

I have a brick from Milwaukee County Stadium.

And I'll be getting something from Yankee Stadium, just don't know what.

[Astros4Life]

I have a piece of yankee stadium outfield grass that I plucked while on a tour in 98...its in a scrapbook of that trip

[Reds41]

I have a red seat from Riverfront Stadium and a brick from Chicago Stadium.

[tmorss9]

I have one of the old cast iron folding chairs used as lower deck infield box seats at Tiger Stadium before the remodel in the 1970's

[StadiumPage]

The first time I went to Fenway in 1997, it was still under the old ownership group and the place was in really bad shape. Paint was peeling off the green monster. With that, I have a 2 inch by 2 inch chip of paint from the green monster.

Its amazing what a great job that the new ownership group has done with Fenway since they took over. Its really a huge difference.

[Manhattan]

The first time I went to Fenway in 1997, it was still under the old ownership group and the place was in really bad shape. Paint was peeling off the green monster. With that, I have a 2 inch by 2 inch chip of paint from the green monster.

Its amazing what a great job that the new ownership group has done with Fenway since they took over. Its really a huge difference. I have mimi baseball bat from Dodger Stadium. And I will buy more memorbilia from Dodger Stadium and also I will buy memorbilia from New Yankee Stadium.

[hbwriter]

I've collected seats for about 15 years and have some good shots I can post. Also lots of signage, bricks, dirt, etc. Best story was, about 10 years ago, I met the son of the guy whose construction company took down Seals Stadium. He told me how all of the bleacher benches there had been saved and he (he son) actually used the wood for the flooring in his house! He had one "bench" left which is comprised of about nine seat numbers (it's a long piece of wood--perhaps 8 feet) that are etched into the wood. It may be my favorite piece.

One other bit--Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam collects seats and stadium stuff--a few years ago, we exchanged a number of emails over a Forbes Field seat a guy was selling (though he'd heard of it first, he was gracious enough to let me purchase it)

Lastly, I remember as a kid, attending the last Yankee game in '73 before the refurb, they allowed people to basically carry whatever they could from the place--it was glorious chaos. Then a department store was selling seats for like 8 bucks or something! I wonder how mercenary the Yanks will be in selling off their history--hope it doesn't get too ridiculous a these things have now become.

[Gooseamania]

I've collected seats for about 15 years and have some good shots I can post. Also lots of signage, bricks, dirt, etc. Best story was, about 10 years ago, I met the son of the guy whose construction company took down Seals Stadium. He told me how all of the bleacher benches there had been saved and he (he son) actually used the wood for the flooring in his house! He had one "bench" left which is comprised of about nine seat numbers (it's a long piece of wood--perhaps 8 feet) that are etched into the wood. It may be my favorite piece.

One other bit--Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam collects seats and stadium stuff--a few years ago, we exchanged a number of emails over a Forbes Field seat a guy was selling (though he'd heard of it first, he was gracious enough to let me purchase it)

Lastly, I remember as a kid, attending the last Yankee game in '73 before the refurb, they allowed people to basically carry whatever they could from the place--it was glorious chaos. Then a department store was selling seats for like 8 bucks or something! I wonder how mercenary the Yanks will be in selling off their history--hope it doesn't get too ridiculous a these things have now become.

awesome, i'd love to see some pics of your collection!

[six4three]

I wonder how mercenary the Yanks will be in selling off their history--hope it doesn't get too ridiculous a these things have now become.

Considering it'll be split between the Yanks and the City (as will the pieces of Shea be split with the Mets), I don't mind.

I forgot - I also have a pair of 1953 wooden seats from County Stadium. Used to have a blue 1923 seat from Yankee Stadium, but I sold it a couple years ago (and am now saving up for another, go figure).

I also have an MTA subway side from the 161st Street station that I picked up surplus - keep meaning to get some autographs on it.

[Kentucky Bomber]

Just this, but it's the best...

http://inlinethumb27.webshots.com/35290/2797348490100439639S425x425Q85.jpg

I sit on it every now and then to remind me how uncomfortable a straight backed, straight slat seated chair is. Anyway, pretty good pickup for $10 in 1973.

I also have a single slat from a balcony seat in the 49th street Madison Sqaure Garden. I attended its last event, a 1967 Rangers game, and took the slat after the buzzer sounded. I was a that game and the last Yankee game in 1973 and both games ended to the sound of handtools at work starting the demolition. I imagine the security at Shea and Yankee Stadiums will have to be pretty stringent to prevent a like occurance this September/October.

[six4three]

Don't worry, it will be. They already search people coming in, for one, and with enough cops around they'll be able to crack down on a lot of it.

Beautiful chair. Makes me miss mine all the more.

[hbwriter]

now I'm looking around the office here... the escalator sign from old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland... garbage pail from Chicago Stadium... star shaped turf from Cowboys Stadium... chunk of the wall from Crosley Field... I'll shoot them later and post...


author's site


www.chrisepting.com

[hbwriter]

Okay--a few shots at my office--sorry for the harsh quality of the photos--in a bit of a rush

a piece of the outfield wall at crosley field
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg185/hbwriter/P5088184.jpg

the eddie vedder forbes field seat
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg185/hbwriter/P5088186.jpg

how the dodgers used to market their dirt back in the 90s
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg185/hbwriter/P5088188.jpg

sign from cleveland's municipal stadium
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg185/hbwriter/P5088187.jpg

partial seal stadium bench (with connie mack stadium and polo grounds chairs visible)
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg185/hbwriter/P5088183.jpg
comiskey brick
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg185/hbwriter/P5088189.jpg

[Lafferty Daniel]

Okay--a few shots at my office--sorry for the harsh quality of the photos--in a bit of a rush

how the dodgers used to market their dirt back in the 90s
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg185/hbwriter/P5088188.jpg


Very cool pic hbwriter.

[Great One]

I'm just content with collecting one program from every stadium that I have seen a game in.

[hbwriter]

How long have you been collecting programs? A great hobby--put those tickets in here too!

[yankies4life]

i know its nothing really special yet and i hope to get some kinda seat from the stadium but i got this on opening day. its from the right field wall. its about 4 coats of the paint from the wall. I think its kinda cool but its nothing really that big.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v674/dadbuyaeboy/DSCF4751.jpg

[David Atkatz]

Some Yankee Stadium memorabilia:

Opening day program:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/datkatz/1923stadiumopenercopy.jpg

Opening day ticket-stub (part of engraved invitation to opening day sent to VIPs):

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/datkatz/1923_first_game.jpg

Ticket stub to first World Series game at YS:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/datkatz/1923WSGame1.jpg

Upper-deck truss blueprint:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/datkatz/1922trussprint.jpg

Letter "M" which hung over Gate 4:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/datkatz/Mfrontcopy.jpg

[Gary Dunaier]

Opening day program

The Opening Day program was reprinted in 1973 as a stadium giveaway. A relatively inexpensive alternate to the real thing, copies can be found periodically on Ebay.

[David Atkatz]

The Opening Day program was reprinted in 1973 as a stadium giveaway. A relatively inexpensive alternate to the real thing, copies can be found periodically on Ebay.

"Relatively inexpensive" ain't the half of it!

The reprint can be found on eBay, and sells for $25 or so.

An original sold a few days ago for juuust a bit more than that:

http://tinyurl.com/6qff55

[Kentucky Bomber]

"Relatively inexpensive" ain't the half of it!

The reprint can be found on eBay, and sells for $25 or so.

An original sold a few days ago for juuust a bit more than that:

http://tinyurl.com/4gy8xb

You need a password from this link, but I'll save you the trouble...it went for $10,000. I bid on it early and thought I bid quite a bit, but was buried in an avalanche of money.

[David Atkatz]

You need a password from this link, but I'll save you the trouble...it went for $10,000. I bid on it early and thought I bid quite a bit, but was buried in an avalanche of money.

Thanks, Kentucky. I fixed the link--here it is again:

http://tinyurl.com/6qff55

Final price was $12,000 with the buyers premium.

[spiderico]

Anyone out there have a picture of a ticket stub from the first game at Yankee Stadium? I've been looking through auctions for a nice clear shot, but have not found one yet.

[David Atkatz]

Anyone out there have a picture of a ticket stub from the first game at Yankee Stadium? I've been looking through auctions for a nice clear shot, but have not found one yet.

See my post above.

OK, I know. You're looking for a regular first-game ticket, the kind the man-in the-street might have bought, I don't have one, but here's a scan of a ninth-game 1923 ticket. The first game ticket looked just like this, only it had a "1" instead of a "9."

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/datkatz/1923game9.jpg

[RichieA13]

This is a reprint of what an Opening Day - 1923 ticket looked like. Note the seat location (Section 4 - Row 18 - Seat 23) equals the date of the first game (4-18-23). If you visit the link below, you see three web pages FULL of ballpark related artifacts from about 50 sports venues, past & present.

www.collectiblestadiumseats.com

[David Atkatz]

[B][COLOR="Blue"]This is a reprint of what an Opening Day - 1923 ticket looked like. Note the seat location (Section 4 - Row 18 - Seat 23) equals the date of the first game (4-18-23).

Bit of a problem here. That's supposedly a bleacher ticket, but in 1923 (and up until Steinbrenner bought the team) bleacher seats were "general admission." They were not numbered--you sat wherever you wanted.

That ticket was created whole with photoshop.

(And what would the odds be of a "sec 4 row 18 seat 23" surviving?)

In 45 years of collecting vintage Yankee memorabilia, I have seen five first game stubs. Two were engraved invitations (I bought one of those), and three were "standard" stubs. (One of those is on display in the HoF in Cooperstown.) I have never seen the original of the above purported bleacher ticket.

[RichieA13]

As I said, Dave, .... it's a reprint (not an original). You're probably right about it being photo-shopped, as I have never seen an actual ticket stub from Opening Day 1923 ... so I do not know for sure what an original ticket (stub) looked like. The "4-18-23" was done intentionally, of course. I have seen that with "phantom" Super Bowl tickets ... where the section, row & seat numbers correspond to the date of the first Super Bowl. There are bleacher seats today that are assigned seats .... but I agree 100% with you that back in 1923, that was not the case. Section 4, of course, is behind home plate & NOT in the bleachers.

[mets16]

Ok here's mine:

Shea warning track taken from 2003 and put in a '64 model of Shea http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/5305/p1000705ah0.jpg


Here's some shots of that model for curiosity's sake
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/4929/p1000702vp6.jpg
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/1821/p1000700ga7.jpg

Fenway dirt inside the model..
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/413/p1000714zl7.jpg

Went to opening day at CBP..
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/6856/p1000709oy6.jpg

After i snuck under the fence and picked up some pieces of the rubble of the Vet.. Here's one of many pieces I have from the Vet..
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6346/p1000715qr2.jpg

Finally, It's not a Ballpark but cool nevertheless.. A piece of Plexiglass from MSG from the 2005-06 NY Rangers season
http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/1249/p1000711ko0.jpg

Thats It..

[Kentucky Bomber]

Your bags of dirt remind me of the opportunity I missed. In the olden days you could exit Yankee Stadium via the field so you could go out to the monuments in center field (as has been shown by many pictures posted on various boards). The exit to the street was through the Yankees bullpen, with the rolling steel door opened at the back. Many a time I walked through that bullpen and saw Steve Hamilton's tobacco chaws strewn all over the mound. If only I had had a shovel and plastic bag.....

[RichieA13]

Here is one of my prized possessions .... it's a wall pad from Fenway Park. Can ANYONE out there help me with a photo in order to place a date on it? I've been searching thru old photos of Fenway for a while now, attempting to figure out when it was in service in the ballpark, but to no avail. I've seen countless photos from Fenway Park going back the last 10 years or so, but I have YET to locate one where THIS actual pad is hanging on the wall. There aren't many clues to go on, but I can tell you the following: There are no metric markings on the wall pad (nor any traces that there ever were), so that helps to elimate possible 'contestants'. Some photos I have seen thru the years have metric markings below the larger white "379" markings. Pop in your DVD of "Field of Dreams" & fast forward to the Moonlight Graham Message scene if you don't know what I am referring to. From photos I have seen over the years, each pad used out there if slightly different from the other. The placement of the numbers, the spacing of the numbers, the font/style of the numbers, as well as the repairs made to it make each pad unique to others that have served in the same spot in left center field. Thus, a photo match of it shouldn't be that hard (in theory, anyway!). The timeframe of this pad's service is probably as far back as the late 1960s, and as recent as the late 1980s (or so). If ANYONE can help out with a dated photos showing it in service, I'd appreciate it!

[vtbub]

Here is one of my prized possessions .... it's a wall pad from Fenway Park. Can ANYONE out there help me with a photo in order to place a date on it? I've been searching thru old photos of Fenway for a while now, attempting to figure out when it was in service in the ballpark, but to no avail. I've seen countless photos from Fenway Park going back the last 10 years or so, but I have YET to locate one where THIS actual pad is hanging on the wall. There aren't many clues to go on, but I can tell you the following: There are no metric markings on the wall pad (nor any traces that there ever were), so that helps to elimate possible 'contestants'. Some photos I have seen thru the years have metric markings below the larger white "379" markings. Pop in your DVD of "Field of Dreams" & fast forward to the Moonlight Graham Message scene if you don't know what I am referring to. From photos I have seen over the years, each pad used out there if slightly different from the other. The placement of the numbers, the spacing of the numbers, the font/style of the numbers, as well as the repairs made to it make each pad unique to others that have served in the same spot in left center field. Thus, a photo match of it shouldn't be that hard (in theory, anyway!). The timeframe of this pad's service is probably as far back as the late 1960s, and as recent as the late 1980s (or so). If ANYONE can help out with a dated photos showing it in service, I'd appreciate it!

The wall was not padded until 1976, after Fred Lynn seperated his shoulder in the '75 Series. Having said that, I have never seen that typeface used for the numbers on the wall at Fenway. Te metric numbers, in yellow, were there until the '99 season.

[RichieA13]

Good to know about the Lynn accident (good for ME anyway, bad for Fred .... LOL!). That will help narrow down the search. One of these days, I am going to sit down & watch my DVD set of the 1986 World Series that I received as a Christmas present. I'll be spying Games 3, 4 & 5 VERY carefully to see if perhaps this pad was out there at that time. MAYBE I'll get lucky & she'll be hanging there behind Rice. Fingers crossed! Thanks again for the info