The Beckett Blog

There’s been a lot of trash talking today about the “news” report done by the Fox station in Chicago that purported to demonstrate how prolific forgeries are in the sports memorabilia field. It’s become a hot topic on our message boards, where more than a few collectors are for some reason taking glee in what they believe to be yet another sign of the impending apocalypse.

Here’s another viewpoint: As a journalist, I think the work done by the reporter here is sensationalistic and shameful. And if you approach this piece with some level of critical thinking, you probably will, too.

Give this set-up some hard thought. These JSA guys are at a show authenticating autographs. I’m no expert, so I have no idea what effort that entails for a typical piece.  But this was hardly a typical piece, was it?

Former Oakland A’s star Sal Bando was signing at the Chicago show, probably 20 feet away. The reporter stood in line and got an authentic signed item. She then pulled a switcheroo. She walked over to the JSA booth and handed them a fairly convincing fake Bando autograph to be authenticated.

If you’re sitting in that authentication chair, what are you thinking when that Bando is placed in front of you? That’s not a piece that’s crying out for extensive research like a Babe Ruth or a Wayne Gretzky. That’s a rubber stamp piece of a show guest who’s been applying ink to paper a couple tables over. After all, who on earth is going to fake a Sal Bando autograph in the first place, and second, who’s going to bring a fake to a show where he’s signing?

It’s like buying an apple in a grocery store, then walking up to the produce manager with an apple in your hand and asking him if it’s safe to eat. He says yes, of course, and you tell him, uh wait, I shot this up with poison at home, so clearly you’re an incompetent judge of produce. It’s a trap that no one could avoid.

Does that let JSA off the hook? Of course not. They got it wrong, and it will probably impact the way they authenticate such show pieces in the future. But this was hardly evidence of gross neglect or impropriety on their part.

I don’t know these guys, and I have no expertise in autographs that would allow me to comment on how they do their job. But I do know a cheap trick when I see one, and this Fox station (surprise!) should be ashamed of itself.