My favorite piece of memorabilia

My favorite piece of Yankee history, and well my only piece so I guess it makes sense that it's my favorite. My parents usually get me one big gift for Christmas and a couple of small things, and 10 or 11 years ago they picked probably one of their best items. They got me this:

A Louisville Slugger Genuine P72 Derek Jeter signed bat


The flash kind of blurred the signature in that pic, so I tried another one but it's a little farther away.


I never got around to getting a nice glass case for it which is sad because it would make a great conversation piece. The COA from Steiner is still wrapped around the handle and I have only held it twice, once when I opened it Christmas morning and then when I took it out of the box to put it in the Ultra Pro bat tube. It most definitely deserves a nicer display than that, but those cases are about $100 bucks, and as you all know that could get me a sweet hobby box.

Clearly this was much cheaper to purchase years ago, and I will probably never own another Jeter signed piece because the price is just outrageous. If I met him by some miracle and got him to sign something, then that would be different. I'm more than happy with owning just this one thing because it is awesome and makes me happy, even if it just sits in a bat tube in a bat box.

I wish I had a better understanding back then of just what I opened that morning. Don't get me wrong, I knew he was going to be here for a long time to come and be a special player, but who could have predicted what he would do in his career so far. If you don't watch this guy on a daily basis you can't truly appreciate everything he brings to the team. Even as he is getting older, he still does what is best for the team even when that means sitting out the last inning or two of a close game to put a 'defensive replacement' in.

Call me crazy, but I think this would be a fun topic for everyone to share. I like reading about cool pieces of memorabilia and how people got them. Drop a comment on something cool you got or your favorite item, or blog about it and share with everyone.

Card collection pays off with Mo

BC Sports is a card/memorabilia chain store that is located through the East Coast, primarily in the Northeast. Sadly, like many card shop, the cards are overpriced, often times grossly overpriced.

That hasn't stopped me from shopping there. Sometimes -- sometimes -- you can catch some deals. Perhaps a couple of older boxes get marked down. But it always has the newest items from Topps Series 1 to Upper Deck Premier.

BC Sports offers a club and not just for kids. With your BC Sports card, you get 10 percent off boxes and they track the amount of money you spend because at the end of the year you can use points to purchase memorabilia. For every 250 you spend on cards in the store (this includes loose packs), you get $25 off at the end of the year.

I've actually never used my points at the end of year, which is dumb. If I am spending the money, I might as well reap the small benefit I get of spending money in this store.

This year I had $100 to use (yeah, that's $1,000 I spent in the store in 2008). This year, BC had a huge sale on its memorabilia right around the time you are supposed to use the girt certificates.

As I looked through the store, this one based in the Philadelphia region, there was mostly Phillies products such as a Cole Hamels auto'ed World Series baseball or a Chase Utley auto'ed All-Star game baseball.

I considered both, but I had my eye on something else.

The guy behind the counter (who knows my name, my job, my boyfriend and his collections -- clearly I spent too much time in this place) said, "You can get that kind of stuff anywhere."

He was right and I caved. I said, "Get it."

With the discount and my gift certificate, I spent about $150 on this item and I'm thrilled.

Mariano Rivera, a nine-time all star, is one of my favorite Yankees. There have been so many great moments in recent Yankee history that he has been apart, it's difficult not to like this man.

He always has a smile on his face. He's a giving and generous person. He's a heck of a competitor.

Rivera is 40 and still at the top of his game. While watching him, you can't help but wonder how a man who weights 140 pounds soaking wet can rear back and throw the way he does. Even in his worst moments -- 1997 against Cleveland (I hate you Sandy Alomar) and 2004 ALCS against the Red Sox (I blame Tom Gordon more) -- he is still great and the embodiment of class.

I haven't figured out where this is going to go yet, but I'm sure it will go in the crazy room (That's what we call the office, which houses all of my baseball cards).