Kevin Rozell of Zell's Pinstripe Blog ran into Phil Hughes on a baseball card message board and ended up scoring some autographed items. The world keeps getting smaller all the time.

No one was willing to come up with $100,000 for the ball Jose Molina hit for the last home run at Yankee Stadium. If Jeter had hit the ball, the bidding would have been huge.

Did you know there are law enforcement professionals assigned to each ballpark to authenticate items used in a game before they are sold?

The 49-year-old Chicago police officer is not there as a fan -- although he does love baseball -- but as part of Major League Baseball's program to guarantee the authenticity of game-used jerseys, balls, bats and other memorabilia it sells to fans.

At the end of the White Sox game, Cunningham will assign each item an identification number, attach a tamper-proof hologram and record its details.

Fans who pay hundreds or sometimes thousands of dollars to buy these items -- usually via the Major League Baseball website -- can be sure that they are getting what they pay for.

"It's put integrity back in collectibles," said Cunningham, one of baseball's 130 authenticators, who also witness and authenticate the signatures of players who sign items for sale.

The program was set up after a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into sports memorabilia in 2000 that concluded that as much as 75 percent of sports and entertainment memorabilia was fake.

I still think it's not that difficult to fake one of these things. How many people look at the hologram and do the research to determine it's the hologram as opposed to a forgery?

Upper Deck writes:

On behalf of Upper Deck, we are thrilled to announce the "Presidential Predictor" card set in the 2008 Series One Baseball release. The illustrated parodies show several of the top candidates in rare form by tying each one of them to a pivotal moment or personality from baseball's rich history.

The candidates' cards, inserted at a rate of 1:8 packs in Upper Deck's 2008 Series One Baseball release, are hitting store shelves now!

Notable names in the "Presidential Predictor" set include, from the Democratic side, Barack Obama and John Edwards; and from the Republicans: John McCain, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson. A few other surprise candidates and political personalities are also showcased in the collection including Al Gore being tagged out by reigning U.S. President George W. Bush in a funny portrayal of Yankee second baseman Chuck Knoblauch's phantom tag of Boston's Jose Offerman during the '99 American League Championship Series.

Collectors who pull any of the Presidential Predictor cards from packs will have the opportunity to win a trip for two to throw out the "presidential" first pitch at an official Major League Baseball game during the 2009 season. They simply need to type in the static code(s) found on the backs of the cards at www.presidentialpredictor.com to gain entry into an Upper Deck Baseball sweepstakes. The top prize will be open to all collectors who register the winning candidate's trading card. Each of the cards can be viewed at the www.presidentialpredictor.com website.

I like the Fred Thompson card.

MLB commissioned Malcolm Farley to capture the Rockies run to the pennant in a series of paintings:

Farley has been commissioned by Major League Baseball to do a series of five pieces: Helton's home run; shortstop Troy Tulowitzki turning a double play; two of Matt Holliday, including his shot over the center- field wall in the pennant-clinching victory; and a stadium piece with fireworks erupting over Denver's night sky.

His work last week took him to Los Angeles to paint Stevie Wonder during an awards ceremony, to New York to paint Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James and to San Antonio, where he crossed paths with Eva Longoria, wife of Spurs guard Tony Parker.

"They're all Rockies fans," he said of Wonder, James and Longoria. "They're all talking about the Rockies. It's what's good about baseball."

You can see some of his other baseball work here.

The Honus Wagner card sets another record.

This recent post about baseball cards got me in the mood to buy a pack, so when I was out this afternoon on errands, I stopped by the local CVS to buy a pack of Topps. I looked through the candy rack at the front of the store, but didn't see any. I asked the cashier, and she told me CVS didn't carry them anymore! I guess they've really lost popularity.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive in March.

The Honus Wagner baseball card sold again, nearly doubling in price since the last transaction, going for $2.35 million:

The seller Brian Seigel in 2000 paid a then-record $1,265,000 for the prize card, which is in better condition than the rest.

"This particular one was preserved in spectacular condition," said Joe Orlando, president of Professional Sports Authenticator of Newport Beach - the company that certified the authenticity of the card. "It's the Holy Grail of baseball cards."

Still, the Wagner cards are so rare that even those in much worse condition will sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, Seigel said.

I remember the market for baseball cards was hot in the early 1990s. I didn't trade, but I know at some point the market collapsed. Did that happen because collecting was a fad or did card companies produce too many cards trying to make a buck off the craze?

Dan Wechsler sends this article on what it's like to create the back of a baseball card.

I didn't think the 715 home run ball hit by Barry Bonds would fetch much interest, but the bidding is already over $130,000.

Phil Rizzuto is set to auction much of his baseball memorabilia.

Patricia Rizzuto, who works for Conair, a company founded by another clan of Rizzutos, said her family wanted to sell the items "while he's alive, so he can thank his fans for the loyalty they've shown him."

The trove has been stored and displayed at the Rizzutos' Hillside, N.J., house, where the Rizzuto children, including Cindy and Phil Jr. (inevitably, Scooter Jr., to all but his wife, Patricia said) were raised. The elder Rizzutos want to move to a smaller place, where the memorabilia would not fit.

I'd like the Meat Loaf:

He is keeping his 1950 American League most valuable player trophy (Cora was wearing her glittering 2000 World Series pendant), but he is parting with the platinum record he received for his play-by-play of a makeout session on Meat Loaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."

And I'll stop right there.

Update: Here's a picture of the squeeze bunt Rizzuto speaks of in the story. I'm impressed that the majority of men in the stands are wearing jackets and ties.

If you're a Joe DiMaggio fan, some prime memorabilia will be up for bids in May:

The sale also includes DiMaggio's record-breaking 45th consecutive hit baseball from his 56-game streak in 1941 and a set of World Series rings from 1936 to 1996 presented to DiMaggio by the Yankees.

An 83-year-old man passed away on Jan. 2, 2006. He lived alone in a house full of trash. But he had a sports card collection worth $1 million dollars:

Police were called to guard the condemned home of a reclusive man whose death led to the discovery of a valuable collection of vintage sports cards. The collection, stored in 400 to 500 boxes in John F. Hessian's home in Boston's Roslindale section, included cards of such long-ago baseball stars as Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente.

I wonder if he ever realized what he possessed? The collection was under bags of trash:

"This is like Fort Knox inside," said Michael Wiseman of Aftermath Cleaning Co., which was hired to tear through piles of trash 6-feet high to reach the cards.

Here's a clever idea. A Curt Schilling "Bobble Ankle" figure is for sale with, you guessed it, an ankle that bobbles up and down. When you buy the doll, you're also making a donation to ALS and the Shade Foundantion. It's a great way for Schilling and Sox fans to remember the 2004 World Series Championship, and help others at the same time.

Palmball.com points out this article about a lucky Michigan couple.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.