Below is the text of an e-mail sent to both Troy Kinunen and Rob Lifson earlier this week.
Gentlemen,
In my opinion, this jersey was not graded in accordance with our criteria and policies for post 1987 period stars or Hall of Famers. There are no customizations that are readily apparent on the jersey. In 1988, Rawlings did in fact record customizations with supplemental tagging for both body taper and length issues. As you can see from the image attached, this includes products provided to the Milwaukee Brewers.
The winning bidder needs to be contacted and informed of this and that unless I can be shown some compelling and objective reason why the jersey should warrant a grade other than A5, the letter currently written on the jersey is to be rescinded and the jersey is to be recorded as an A5 in the MEARS data base.
If the intent is to award +3 points based on “player characteristics,” then those must be things that can be directly attributed to Paul Molitor in an objective and defendable manner. As such they are not things like general use and wear unless they are manifest on the jersey in a manner or pattern that is distinctive to Molitor.
Please know I will be making this e-mail and the images provided public. My intent is not to embarrass anyone, but I need to make sure this issue is not perceived as being ignored. Additionally, this is intended to provide public clarification as to how the grading criteria is to be addressed and implemented in the future.
I look forward to your cooperation in this matter. I will publish this note and images on Wednesday the 3rd of June in the MEARS Current News Section.
v/r
Dave
END OF E-MAIL
POST SCRIPT: I would like to thank the folks who brought this to my attention. I am not trying to throw anyone under the bus on this, but this is one of the reasons why I am retained by MEARS, and to be honest, the freedom of action I have been affored by Troy in areas like this is one of the principle reasons I stay.