I bought a Jack Morris Indians jersey from Sportswarehouse in Oregon a couple of years back. The tagging is "92". I was told it was a leftover from that year and was used by Morris in spring training in 1994. It does have the "purchased from Cleveland Indians" stamp on it.
After reading this board for a while I got some tips on how to spot a real gamer. I held it to the light and looked inside. To my surprise there is evidense of a the jersey being number 27 at one point in time.
So my question is how reliable is Sportswarehouse and would it be likely that a 1992 jersey was kept until 1994 and then used? If I knew then what I know know I probobly would have not purchased it but it is too late for that. Just holding on to hope that it could still be a game worn Jack Morris jersey.
By the way, the size is a 48 with 2" extra body length if anyone happens to know Jack's jersey size.
I think Sportswarehouse is a good company. I bought a game used Morris 94 jersey from them, but have since, sold it. I think it was a size 44, maybe a 46. 48 seems pretty big. But sportswarehouse has/had tons of Indians stuff. It's probably a real spring training jersey, but I'm not an expert. I remember seeing that jersey on ebay. What did you pay for it? I paid 350.00 for the one I bought from them many years ago. Don't know if this helps at all. Greg
I bought it somewhere between 2-3 years ago for $200. Didn't know anything about game jerseys but I have been a fan of Jack Morris so I went for it. Sportswarehouse had great feedback and had been around so I trusted them. Still have no reason not to. But after seeing the number change and the year tag being off I started to wonder. The size seems right. Jack was 6'3" and 200lbs.
sportswarehouse is a class act, been around a long time, never heard any complaints. murf and the hartel bros supplied me with many unies over the years. have no fears. Jeff
I bought a home rookie Jim Thome game used jersey from Sportswarehouse in the mid-1990's. Jim signed it a year later and confirmed that it was his rookie shirt. He even added "rookie" below the signature. I have found Sportswarehouse reliable and am confident that many of the other Thome items I have purchased from them are genuine.
I bought a home rookie Jim Thome game used jersey from Sportswarehouse in the mid-1990's. Jim signed it a year later and confirmed that it was his rookie shirt. He even added "rookie" below the signature. I have found Sportswarehouse reliable and am confident that many of the other Thome items I have purchased from them are genuine.
Can't speak to this specific item, but I have had bought from and sold to Sportswarehouse many times over the years, and have always found them to be a class act. I trust them, and believe you can, too.
I figured this thread had to be a spoof because - - - - -
May 30 2005, 11:10 PM
I figured it had to be a spoof because every single item I've ever purchased from them has needed to be returned due to substantial alterations that were not disclosed to me - - - - - and because I have heard ENDLESS stories from other collectors that the same thing has happened to them - - - - - so to see this thread seems absolutely INCREDIBLE and FANTASTIC to me - - - - - but if it is for real, then I'm glad to hear that there are actually some collectors who have had good experiences - - - - - I see their items go for pennies on Ebay all the time (or, at least, I used to - - - - - have not seen them on Ebay for a while now) and always reasoned that the very low final bids were due to the many problems I and other collectors have had. Are there no other collectors on this website who can speak to this? Again, I am glad to hear that other collectors have had good experiences, assuming that this thread is not a joke.
Interesting comments on Sportswarehouse. I haven't done business with them since the mid-1990s. It's been my understanding that they purchased uniforms/equipment directly from the Indians in the 1990's. Their catalog showed photos of mailing labels from the Indians in addition to a letter from the team verifying the purchases. Are you saying there's been some questionable practices from your experiences? Highlighting words in your post like ENDLESS, INCREDIBLE and FANTASTIC is exhibting some strong emotion in your experiences with them. Would you clarify what some of these questionable alterations were . . .
FYI-Robb Wochnick officially sold his business a few weeks ago. It is my understanding that a local individual near the current location in Oregon purchased it.
Those collectors who have been involved in the hobby since the late 1980's are familiar with Sports Warehouse and the items that were offered.
Dick Dobbins orignally marketed the Giants jerseys, and before exiting the hobby, and handed over the contact to Robb. Dick's reputation was FLAWLESS, and there was never any question about authenticity. As Robb expanded, he developed contacts with the Mariners, Angels, and Indians and purchased large bulk quantities of jerseys and warm-ups. I had many dealings with Robb, with the majority being good, a few times bad.
By complete coincidence (really), I went looking for his website tonight (I purchased from him many years ago and was wondering if he might have a few items I'm looking for). I couldn't remember the exact website so I did a Google search for Robb Wochnick. I think I discovered why he's getting out of the business. Makes me wonder where some of the stains on my jerseys actually came from. http://www.boli.state.or.us/BOLI/LEGAL/docs/sportswarehouse.pdf
I'm not sure if you are just trying to share what many feel is a good joke at Robb Wochnick's expense, or if you have some other purpose in mind when you say you feel a need to bump this thread to the top once a month or so.
However, as the new owner of Sports Warehouse who already is having enough trouble dealing with the perceived sins of past ownership, I have to ask you to please think twice about your monthly plan.
Robb has always been straight forward with me in my dealings with him, with the possible exception of his image within the collecting community. I certainly understand now that others do not feel they were treated similarly, and this seems to be a license to drag up topics that have nothing to do with the items he sold -- like the lawsuit.
In the ideal world I could go back and make amends with all that have felt slighted or (worse) cheated by Sports Warehouse in the past, but that is not possible.
In the real world, my options are to change the name of a company that has actually built a decent reputation with low-end collectors like myself for the past 25 years, or to try to ease the negativeness the name conjures up with the high-end collectors.
I'm afraid bumping posts like this up to the top on a monthly basis does not help me with the latter. Please think about it before doing it again as the costs involved with changing the company name are not something I can afford right now.
Perhaps it is best that my inventory contains very few items that would interest folks here.
Zeb Fowler is the new owner of Sports Warehouse. I met him recently on this forum (first discussion was about dating his Rickey Henderson bat) and have had several nice emails and a pleasant phone conversation with him since then. He seems like a great guy and he has a mountain of work ahead of him in terms of getting Sports Warehouse back on its feet. Craig, I know where you're coming from as I had a good chuckle when I first read this thread, too. But let's all do our best to give Zeb a chance to get things going in the right way for his new company.
Zeb, I'm sure many folks here, including myself, wish you the best of luck in your business. I'm not a game used expert like others here, but I suspect that if you gain good will and have good interaction with the posters and readers here, you are in good shape.
Zeb:
Best of luck to you as you take over SW. Two questions: 1) will you be at the National? and 2) can we look forward to an improved search engine on the online site?
Thanks,
Mark Sutton
Thanks to those who've posted good wishes for the future of Sports Warehouse. I'm not sure what's in store, but it should be an interesting journey.
There may be occasions when I do stumble upon something that might interest the folks here, and when that happens I will post to the "for sale" section to let everyone know.
As for the National.... I'm afraid I haven't had enough time to get anything together to go as an exhibitor, and I'm just not ready to go hog wild as a buyer. Next year seems like a better plan.
The Web site has not been redesigned in nearly five years, and the search engine's technology certainly is a little faded. In the weeks leading up to taking over here I thought the Web site would be the top priority. After I got here, though, I have found several other issues that fall into place ahead of a redesign -- most notably the inventory. I'm afraid some of the folks Robb had helping him did not properly enter items in the on line catalog, nor were items always removed when sold.
The problem is one of time. With only me and Melissa (a very valuable Sports Warehouse employee from several years ago who has returned) working, it is all we can do to list and process eBay items, let alone attack an accounting of inventory. Looks like it may be time for another pair of hands.
Again, thanks for the good thoughts and good words about the company.
Last year, I won a Griffey Jr. bat from sportswarehouse. when it arrived, it looked like a toy: under 29"!! I called the LV factory, and they laughed at it. I call Robb and he told me it was directly out of the clubhouse. I said i wasn't happy, and he promptly refunded my money with no argument.
however, he did say something to me that i will never forget: when i brought to his attention that perhaps it wasn't legit, he told me he trusted his sources, and that if i didn't like the bat, he'd "find someone else who did." he basically told me that he would be able to sell it to someone out there!! his disdainful attitude really burned me up.
