Shamefully ripping off Inspired by soco's piece assessing the value of Diamondbacks based on their baseball cards, I poked my head into the area of game-used memorabilia. Obviously, the Diamondbacks have a lot less 'history' than most teams, and hence, a lot-less items available in this area. On the other hand, prices are a good deal more reasonable: the most expensive non-ticket thing I could find with a Diamondbacks connection was $1,500 for a watch. As a contrast, see the $50,000 sought for an Ichiro game-worn jersey.
There's nothing quite as unusual currently available as Luis Gonzalez's chewing-gum, which went for $10,000 back in 2002, but there's still some interesting stuff out there. Here's my ten favorites. While ranked in increasing order of price, these items are not necessarily the most expensive or valuable items currently available - that would also belong to Gonzo, with the Luis Gonzalez Game Used Home Run Ball currently offered for $995.00. Instead, these are just ones that rank highly for sheer coolness, quirkiness or sarcastic commentary ability, on the entirely arbitrary SnakePit scale.
10. 2006 UD Johnny Estrada Diamondbacks Jersey Card 67/75 - $5.95
Important news for those on a limited budget for their game-used memorabilia needs! $5.95 - and free shipping! - will get you a baseball card, into which has been inserted a swatch of cloth, from a jersey that was once fairly close, to the skin of Johnny Estrada! Who was the second-to-last Diamondback to hit over .300 in a season with 400+ plate-appearances! Are we excited yet?!!? Or, more importantly, have I used up my entire quota of exclamation marks for this piece on the first item?!?!
9. Game Used Gerardo Parra Broken Bat Arizona Diamondbacks - $10.50
Moving up, this is the cheapest "true" game-used item at time of writing. While that's a good price, a couple of things work against it. Firstly, it might end up going higher, as there are already two bids on it, with just over a day to go. Secondly, the buyer wants fifteen bucks in shipping - it probably isn't excessive in general, but at the current price seems that way. I liked the uncertainty in the description: "Bat was obtained either at a Mobile Baybears game or a Spring Training game by me." Mobile... Arizona... Yeah, easy to confuse 'em.
8. 2005 Diamondbacks Team Six Bat Jersey Card Schilling - $18.99
While I generally don't have much interest in the fragmentary item inserted into a baseball card concept - as you can probably tell from the comments on #10 - this is actually pretty cool. You get a whole bunch of stuff on one card: per the description, "Curt Shilling jersey; Matt Williams bat; Reggie Sanders jersey; Byung-Hyun Kim jersey; Tony Warmack jersey; and Travis Lee jersey Game Used Bat & Jersey." However, dear seller, you might want to learn to spell. The odds of someone searching Ebay for "Tony Warmack" are probably kinda slim.
7. Scott Hairston - Diamondbacks - Locker Room Name Plate - $19.99
Seller says, "I recently obtained several locker room name plates directly from the Arizona Diamondbacks." Well... I'm pretty certain what they actually mean is, "I bought them from the yard sale at FanFest." I know this, because I have the Juan Cruz locker-room name plate sitting right above the desk where I'm typing. I want to say it was two bucks, certainly no more than five. But maybe there's someone out there wants this, or the Lyle Overbay one also being sold by the same seller.
6. Arizona Diamondbacks Game Used Dirt Crystal. Diamondbacks - $45.99
Ebay has a 'Weird Stuff' category, divided into 'Slightly Unusual,' 'Really Weird' and - my personal favorite, great for idle browsing - 'Totally Bizarre'. One has to wonder whether this might be better located somewhere in there: "Crystal stands approximately 4.5" in height. Each crystal contains a capsule of MLB Authenticated game used dirt, taken directly from the field, and is 3-D laser engraved with the team logo." If your loved one ever said to you, "I'd like some dirt from Chase Field sitting on my desk, but my OCD just won't allow it," then this seems a perfect gift.
5. Charles Brewer Game Used Spike UCLA - $80.00
Ever wanted to walk in a Diamondbacks' player's shoes? Now you can - albeit those of a minor-leaguer (for the moment). Not that absence of production at the highest level stops the merchandise train from rolling. Heck, $79.99, plus $15 shipping, will get you a Wagner Mateo bat, though it comes without papers, naturally. Don't know what size these boots are, but $80 for a pair of baseball shoes seems not unreasonable. Oh, and the SnakePitette apparently knew Brewer, who was in the same year (or thereabout) as her at Chaparral.
4. Chris Clemons 1998 Diamondbacks game used jersey - $125.00
I know you're thinking, "Wow, who knew the Seahawks' DE played for us?" No, not that Chris Clemons. It's a bit of a cheat, to be honest, as the description says, "game used (spring training)." For Clemons never made it to the big leagues with Arizona, his entire major-league career being five games and an 8.53 ERA with the White Sox in 2007. $20 more, from the same buyer, gets you an actual Diamondbacks player - albeit Neil Weber, a borderline Hall of Anonymity candidate for AZ, having 2.1 IP with an 11.57 ERA. [Must update that piece to add Tom Gordon...]
3. Stephen Drew 2006-08 Arizona Diamondbacks game used bat - $195.00
There are a lot of game-used bats available, some of which are better value than others. I mean, a cracked Conor Jackson or Orlando Hudson unsigned bat for $300? What I like about this one is that it comes already autographed, which certainly saves you some trouble. I also appreciate the full description: "A Louisville Slugger C243 cupped end 33.5 inch 31 oz. bat, shows good use with tar, cleat marks, ball/seam marks with ink transfers. It has a minor handle crack which has been nicely repaired." Nicely repaired? We would expect nothing less from Stephen.
2. Curt Schilling 2003 Diamondbacks Game Used Worn Pants - $395.00
When I first saw the auction, I had a horribly moment of fear that they were using "pants" in the British sense, and what you were getting for your near-four Benjamins was Curt's used jock-strap. I was quite relieved to discover that you're actually buying his trousers. Of course, he only went 8-9 for the Diamondbacks that year, so I imagine this particular bit of apparel would be worth a lot less than a pair of All-Star, Cy Young runner up britches from the 2001 or 2002 season.
1. Mark Reynolds Home Run #97 Game Used Diamondbacks - $800.00.
This one comes from May 1, 2010 when Special K launched his first of two homers that day off Carlos Silva onto Waveland Avenue, where one of the lurking ball grabbers snagged it. While undoubtedly vastly over-priced - by about a factor of ten - what's most fun about this one is the associated YouTube video. That has both photos taken from the street of the actual catch and footage from the seller's camcorder, giving a unique view of proceedings. Though those like Mrs. SnakePit, who found The Blair Witch Project a bit too shaky, should probably stay clear...