here are some authentic jersey cards

i haven't sounded off on the big 'authentic' jersey scandal.  i will keep my relic cards and enjoy them for what they are (or might be), but i am disappointed that i ever gave any of my money to upper deck.

one of the first things i thought about back when the story broke was whether the relics that upper deck gave away back in 2000, including a ty cobb jersey and a babe ruth bat were actually legit.  there were a couple of dodger items in that giveaway, too - a don drysdale jersey from his historic 1968 season

and a pee wee reese jersey from 1956

i found an article that details the ty cobb jersey, but couldn't find anything about the origins of the drysdale or reese jerseys.  one would think that there would be fairly good provenance for these items, but who really knows?  i certainly understand the doubt that has been created with all relic cards - not just thanks to the recently exposed scandal but also because of the lame authenticity statements on cards the last few years.

leaf used to provide the best certificates of authenticity on their cards, like this 2003 leaf certified materials don sutton card

the back shows the actual jersey (supposedly) that the swatch was taken from

along with a guarantee.  when i look at this now, i am forced to wonder about the jersey's chain of custody and whether leaf was really able to verify anything, just like all the other companies.  no wonder we are inundated with manupatches these days.