I saw this report on Outside the Lines last week and it was pretty
embarrassing all around. They were trying to make a big deal out of
event-used material, with some innuendoes about it not being
"legitimate" because it's only been worn for a minute. They had on
the guy that sued Topps because of 9 extra Jagr cards, and some other
collector. The whole thing was steered to question the practice of
wearing these items for a short time. But no one got into the
game-used thing, which is what I wanted to hear. They should have
gotten Richard McWilliams on there to explain how they call a
polyester jersey an "official game-used jersey" when worn by Joe
DiMaggio in an old-timers game, or the Reggie Jackson cork bat card.
Or where their Christy Mathewson jersey came from.

Was there a controversy over the Mathewson jersey? Or are you just giving a
general example of a rare old jersey?

I have built a fairly nice collection of game-used cards of HOFers and
I'm beginning to have serious doubts about some of the things that are
being put out now. I would just like to know a little bit more about
these things that I'm tempted and encouraged to spend money on. The
question "how do you know for sure" about the legitimacy of these
cards is not one that I ever worried about very much, but the
casualness with which these things are presented is maybe just a
little too casual. Remember when UD first announced it was going to
slice up a Ruth bat? It got national media coverage with all kinds of
hobby and non-hobby personalities contributing to the debate. Even
though recent history shows which side won, UD orchestrated the PR,
stating the price and location where they bought the bat, and the
solid pedigree it carried. They also put forth their argument for
slicing it up versus giving it away in a raffle, or whatever the
alternatives were. A couple years later, Be A Player did much the
same thing with the Vezina goalie pads. A jersey from a player like
Christy Mathewson, who played pretty much entirely before WWI cannot
have very many game-used items out there. And yet these 63 (IIRC)
jersey cards were inserted into a niche product with no advance
notice, little hobby press, and no follow-up. I inquired to UD myself
about the provenance of the jersey and the customer service person
couldn't tell me anything. There are a lot of cards containing
jersey, glove and bat swatches from early players including first
tier, pre-WWI HOFers like Mathewson, Wagner, Cobb, Lajoie, Speaker and
Eddie Collins, not to mention the continuing abundance of Ruth stuff,
much of it released almost as a surprise to those who pull them. No
one knew they would have Cobb or Wagner cards in 2001 Legendary Cuts,
nor that there would be a Mathewson jersey card NY Legends. Why not?
Would advertising these things not generate more sales? And why only
63 Matty jerseys? They just cut off a sleeve or something? Or did
they not get a whole jersey? Where's the rest of it?

The average ESPN reader or viewer probably hadn't heard of game- or
event-used cards before that segment, and now probably has a very
colored view of that part of the hobby. This, I think, is especially
important as within the hobby there seems to be a growing questioning
of the legitimacy of this material. Now with Donruss about to cut up
1 of 3 known Ruth home jerseys, Sammy Sosa's corking, and the other
well-known "problem" cards that have surfaced, I would think a more
pro-active effort on the part of the card companies would help in
shoring up not only the value of these things, but the reputations of
the hobby in general.