The organization that I work for is having a gala this weekend which includes an auction. One of the Astro's wives brought in a box this week full of items worn or used (and signed) by the players in the Astros final game of the season. The only item not used is the Brad Ausmus stuff. Since I'm not a big Astros or baseball fan, I need helping deciding which items would likely pull the biggest bids because we can't feature every item in the auction. None of them are big name guys, so unfortunately I'm not sure any of them are really worth anything. Anyway, here is the list. If you could take the time to rate/rank these somehow, or at least pick a few that look best, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Mark McLemore - black cap w/ gold star & Texas emblem Troy Patton - black cap w/ gold star & Texas emblem Dave Borkowski - baseball & red cap (current uniform) Chris Sampson - 2 pair of cleats Matt Albers - cleats Brian Moehler - cap (classic rainbow uniforms) & navy blue cap (90's uni) Trevor Miller - black cap w/ gold star & Texas emblem, black cap (current uni), & navy blue cap (90's uni) Brad Ausmus - 2007 Limited Edition surfing bobblehead & magazine (packaged together, both signed)
Get Biggio to sign the cup he wore when he played catcher on Saturday...THAT would get some big bucks...
The best one would clearly be Ausmus. One, the items are more rare. Two, even though he's not a star on the field, he's one of the most loved and known Astros in the community, and he'd bring very good value. After that, I'd say it would be Patton and Sampson, followed by Miller if you had to have another (simply because of the volume of items signed by Miller). I definitely wouldn't feature Moehler, Borkowski or McLemore.
I would agree with The Cat, unless the wife of Moehler, Borkowski, or McLemore was the one that brought in the box of signed items OR you expect any of them (players or player's wives) to appear at auction.
Ausmus is nobody outside of Houston and bobbleheads are nowhere near as desirable as game used jerseys and equipment. An Ausmus signed bobblehead might go for $20 if you're lucky and in 5 years you'd probably have trouble getting $5 for it. If Patton turns out to be a quality pitcher and makes noise in the ROY race next year, a game used, autographed hat with some kind of verifiable authenticity would be pretty valuable, $100+. I think though that the cap with the Texas emblem is actually a batting practice cap so it wouldn't exactly be game used. You might want to clarify that.
