Upper Deck is selling signed Polo Shirts worn by Tiger Woods during days 1-3 of the 2008 US Open Golf Tournament for
$30,000, $40,000, and $50,000. I enjoy watching Tiger play golf, and his tournament worn and signed golf shirts should be valuable. My first thought is those prices seem awfully high. http://store.upperdeck.com//Products/Upper%20Deck%20Default%20Catalog/USopenPolos/default.aspx?V=2&DCMP=EMC-09JuneTigerShirts&wsta=shirtstextclick
I looked up some other game worn items from hall of fame athletes which have sold in auctions the last few years.
From hall of fame baseball players, a Nellie Fox 1949 rookie era game worn jersey sold for $15,600, a coaches jersey worn by Honus Wagner around 1935 sold for $24,000, and a 1968 Carl Yastrzemski game worn Red Sox road jersey sold for
$9600. A road jersey worn by Roberto Clemente in 1958 sold for $44,628, and a Lou Gehrig jersey worn during the 1938 season sold for $240,000.
A Mickey Mantle 1958 World Series worn jersey sold for $216,000. If you compare Mantle in a World Series to Tiger in a Major Golf tournament, the idea that 50 years from now these Woods signed golf shirts could be selling for quite a bit more than $30-$50,000 doesn't seem so far fetched.
In football, a Mike Ditka mid 1960's Bears worn home jersey sold for $10,800, a Jim Taylor 1966 game worn home jersey sold for $19,200, a 1979 Johnny Unitas game worn Colts jersey sold for $42,000 and a Jim Brown 1962-1965 game worn jersey sold for $57,000.
The more I think about it, and compare with other prices, I really don't think those Tiger Woods U.S. Open worn shirts are a bad buy. First, you have to put Tiger on a par with a Mantle or a Gehrig. Many sports fans don't consider golfers special. Those who don't I'm sure have never broken 70 while walking 18 holes on a 90 degree day on a world championship golf course. Because Tiger has so consistently dominated the greatest golfers in the world the last ten years, I put him in the conversation when comparing the greats in sports history.
If Tiger's golf shirts looked more like the jerseys Mantle and Gehrig wore, and less like the shirt I wore to tcrown yesterday, it would be much easier for my mind to process the price tag with the item. Maybe Tiger needs to start wearing cooler golf shirts. If forced to choose, I'd take the 1958 Clemente jersey for $44,000.
My website is tcrowntom.com, my email is tom@tcrowntom.com, and my twitter id is tcrowntom.











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