Autographed sports memorabilia is a great way to honor your favorite players. It’s an investment you expect to last a lifetime but an Everett woman found out, that’s not always the case. When she couldn’t get the Mariner’s or Major League Baseball to help she asked me for the home run.
Kimberly Ruiz is the sports fanatic in her house. She has an entire room for her autographed memorabilia. Her prize possession is a signed Ichiro picture. The photo is from his record setting 258th hit at Safeco in 2004. She bought it nearly three years ago from the Mariner’s team store for $380.
“It was already framed, it was protected so the signature would be protected and I wouldn’t have any problems with it,” recalled Ruiz.
The picture came with a certificate of authenticity and the MLB hologram. Kimberly was careful where she displayed her investment.
“My signed stuff I like to keep out of direct sunlight. So I put it on a wall and up kind of high so it would be kind of shaded and not get any direct sunlight and not get any glare and to protect the signatures on things I have,” said Ruiz.
But a few weeks ago a game changer happened. Like an Ichiro grand slam, that autograph had vanished.
“I thought that was autographed!” exclaimed Ruiz. “I looked and the autograph that was on it, it looks, you can see a couple of little scratches where it was but it has just completely faded off. You can’t even tell that there’s an autograph there. I just kind of looks like there is something on the uniform.”
Ruiz said she called the Mariners team store and Major League Baseball. Neither would assist so she called me.
“Very disappointing. As any collector or fan of the Mariners, if you buy something that’s signed, you expect that it’s gonna last a lifetime not two and half years,” said Ruiz.
Shawn Wert handles autographed memorabilia for the Mariners. It’s impossible for him to know exactly what happened to Kimberly’s picture but said the MLB has one of the most extensive authentication programs for signed items.
“Fans can be totally reassured anything they buy from us is authenticated and legit,” said Wert. “Every item is authenticated with a hologram which is logged and then uploaded to their website. Customers can just look up their number and that’s how it verifies it’s authentic.”
The Mariners agreed to refund Kimberly’s money but I wanted to get her that autograph. So I got in touch with Ichiro’s representatives here in Washington and they came through with that home run, giving Ruiz a signed copy of Ichiro’s 262nd hit. The Mariner’s have some tips for other collectors out there.
- Never, never display your autographed items in direct light – even indoor lighting.
- Keep the temperature and humidity low.
- Framing should only be done professionally with museum quality glass and acid free matting.
