By Chuck Kaufman
Editor, Sweet Spot
www.sweetspotnews.com

Autograph hounds at spring training 2005 will begin barking at superstars, ballyhooed rookies and prospects and just about anybody walking around in a major league baseball uniform. Many players will sign; many wont. Somewhere in the hunt, the game of baseball actually will be played on a baseball field.

One of the hottest commodities in spring training will be Ichiro Suzuki, the single-season hit king and perennial All-Star. As easy as Ichiro makes playing baseball hes that difficult to snag for autographs by collectors. Last year, Ichiro collectibles came under scrutiny.

Brenda Smiles took her adoration of Ichiro Suzuki to the collectors level. She purchased dozens of purportedly signed bats, balls and pictures of the superstar. She was particularly proud of a signed bat that she was told Ichiro used in the 2001 All-Star game.

Last summer, Chris Halsne of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News found that the bat and most of the other items in Smiles collection were bogus. Halsne had Ichiro and Bret Boone review their autographs sold to Smiles and other collectors. They rejected all of them.
Halsnes scrutiny was guided by Ichiros agent, Tony Attanasio. He called a black bat with an Ichiro signature absolutely fake.

The biggest problem is from the fans perspective, Attanasio told Halsne. Theyre buying something that doesnt have the true value.

The alleged fake autographed items came from Matt Bingham, whom the report identified as a self-proclaimed autograph seeker and memorabilia salesman. Bingham himself calls the industry corrupt and argues its difficult to tell real from counterfeit autographs. He also denies ever selling Smiles her memorabilia.

I absolutely never sold her anything, he told KIRO-7. She always wanted stuff. She couldnt afford anything I had. She didnt want to pay the $100 for an Ichiro ball.
But KIRO investigators spoke with four witnesses who confirmed that Bingham dealt Mariners memorabilia to Smiles and another buyer, Bibi Martinez.

Tim Fitzsimmons, FBI agent in charge of the Operation Bullpen investigation, told the newsman he could not comment on the Bingham matter, as he reportedly said that it could interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation. However, he did say that sooner or later, the lies they come up with - theyre going to get caught in.

Bingham, meanwhile, is sticking by his story. The King County Sheriffs white collar crime division has opened a criminal investigation into Binghams activities based on Smiles complaint.

Ichiro agent Attanasio told ESPN.com last summer that Ichiro turned down about $7 million in endorsements toward the beginning of last season. Ichiros star is most bright, hot off becoming baseballs all-time single-season total hits king (262).

Ichiro is very attuned to the memorabilia market. Attanasio said an Ichiro game-used glove was stolen at the beginning of last season. His client had heard that the glove bore a $20,000 price tag. A stolen uniform and game bat sold for $40,000, Attanasio; and a bat that Ichiro gave to Mariners pitcher Aaron Sele for a church auction sold for $6,500.

" Tough Signer "
As for signatures, Ichiro apparently is a most difficult signer. Ichiro collector and Japan baseball expert Gary Engel got in on Ichiromania when he first got wind that the seven-time Japanese Pacific League batting champ was coming to the States. Hes an impossible signer, Engel told Darren Rovell of ESPN.com. I bet 99.9 percent of the stuff you see out there is fake. Engel says an Ichiro signature in Japanese sells for about $1,000.

Ichiro is known to have signed a great deal during spring training 2004 and he did sign 1,000 cards last year for Upper Deck. Attanasio has clarified that the jerseys used in Upper Decks memorabilia cards, promoted as game-used, actually were jerseys from spring training more than two years ago.
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