You can now own a piece of Jose Canseco’s most famous equipment as a member of the Texas Rangers – and it has nothing to do with a needle.
The cap Canseco was wearing when his misjudged a fly ball that bounced off his head and went over the wall for a homer in a 1993 game in Cleveland is now up for auction.
Heritage Auctions, a Dallas-based collectibles auction company, has opened up bidding on the cap. As a bonus, it’s been autographed and dated by Canseco.
The cap, which is a size 7 ½ New Era, was going for $3,250 Friday morning. There’s still plenty of time to bid on the cap too, as there will be a live auction for it May 4 in Dallas. The highest online bid at the time will be the opening bid for the live portion of the auction.
The auction includes more than 2,000 item from NBA championship rings to golf medals to numerous autographs.
But there’s only one item available that may draw interest from its previous owner. Canseco said on Twitter two days that he hoped the bidding would stay low on the cap because he’d like to have it back. The official scorer that he is, the admitted steroid user said the official scorer missed the call. Canseco said the play should have been scored a four-base error and not a home run for Carlos Martinez in the May 26 game.
Canseco’s dream of getting the cap may not work out. The estimated value of the cap was $800 to $1,200.
“It’s a neat piece and we thought it was going to be around $1,000,” said Chris Ivy, the director of sports auctions for Ivy. “Obviously it (evoked) a lot of good memories. The beauty of the auction process is it’s going to go to the person who’s willing to pay the most for it.”
Ivy said the cap was part of a collection that belonged to singer/songwriter Seth Swirsky. Swirsky collects unique baseball items like the Mookie Wilson/Bill Buckner ball from the 1986 World Series and the letter written by then baseball commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis to Joe Jackson informing him he wouldn’t be allowed to play baseball again.
If Canseco can’t buy back his cap, he may have other options. His rookie of the year award from 1986, a Silver Slugger award, a player of the year plaque and two other awards are also in the auction. None of those items have bids of more than $650.
The cap isn’t the only unique item linked to the Texas Rangers in the auction. The American League champion ring given to reliever Warner Madrigal following the 2010 season is also in the auction. Madrigal didn’t even pitch in a game for Texas in 2010.
