Great article Re: THE STREAK BAT

aloof1003 · January 16, 2005 3:17AM

LINK

I thought this was a great read, and would pass it on.

scott

fsjeter · January 16, 2005 4:20AM

Nice article and kudos to Robert Plancich. I don't know that I would call him a whistleblower. To me, that's a person that reveals damaging information from the inside. He's an outsider asking questions. I wonder if the auction house acknowledged the Mantle glove error and refunded Billy Crystal's money. I also agree with Esken that he is good for the hobby and bad for their business. Truth be told, when you're throwing around the kind of money that is being spent on high dollar items, you need that kind of scrutiny.

Scott

Stone193 · January 16, 2005 4:31AM

Very interesting Scott

The article has me asking more questions than there are answers. What they don't say is - what evidence did the guy have that the bat is not authentic. Some critics like Taube, after being presented with the provenance accepts the bat:

"Some skeptics have been converted; last summer bat expert John Taube expressed doubts but now says a preponderance of the evidence indicates this was a streak bat."

The issue that light was shed on the fact that Bushing authenticated and sold the bat is important. But, unless the guy produces evidence to the contrary about it's authenticity, he is relegated to a disgruntled collector who is a harasser rather than a critic in this instance.

So, perhaps, H&B is just making a preemptory strike at the guy before they unvail a new trophy rather than having him shed negative light at the premier. Since, as history has shown, if he creates a stink - the negative press will outlast it's welcome even if found to be false. Remember when Mantle's wife announced she had the 500 HR ball of the Mick when another was being auctioned and it was found to be false - I believe, some say it killed the value on the "pulled" item and never truly recovered.

your friend
Mike

koby · January 16, 2005 5:20AM

If the bat is not real, why isn't H & B suing Dave Bushing or Mastro?

Axtell · January 16, 2005 5:35AM

Sounds like the guy needs a new hobby...he's obviously just trying to make a name for himself, and sounds like a real jerk in the process.

koby · January 16, 2005 5:43AM

It was Dave Bushing who gave the bat his highest A10 rating, while failing to disclose that he was the seller of the bat. Even Marshall Fogel has called this a serious conflict of interest.

Kudos to Plancich for calling out these shady business practices.

Gemmy10 · January 16, 2005 5:53AM

Sorry Axtell Rose. You are all wet on this one. Clear conflict of interest here.

aloof1003 · January 16, 2005 7:15AM

I have to agree with the side saying kudo's to pancich. I mean to me it sounds as if the powers that be are trying to quiet someone who might cut into there profit. ie: mastro, h&b and the authenticaters. If it turns out to be true will not H&B and Mastro look ridiculas at best and completly incompetent or criminally negligent at worst for perpetuating a fraud.

Just my thoughts and i know many will not agree. But i see a huge amount of $ that is benifiting some very powerful interests. And this is the type of thing that could hurt confidence in the memoribilia sector.

scott

Stone193 · January 16, 2005 8:23AM

Guys
Just in the interest of clarity - they believe Plancich did good to expose the "conflict of interest" - but no where in the article does it say that he has evidence that the bat isn't authentic - even John Taube, who I trust personally, thinks it's authentic.
If they unvail the bat, and Plancich makes a stink, even without any other evidence, it will kill the item. I think that's what H&B is concerned about and they haven't done anything wrong. This isn't strictly a "david and goiath" thing - the guy means well but may be a zealot who may wind up doing more harm than good in that search for truth.
So what do we know from the article? Only that there was poor judgement - conflict of interest - anything concrete about the bat's authenticity? I don't think so.

your friend
Mike

Great article Re: THE STREAK BAT

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