The match game of memorabilia
Game 7 of the 2019 World Series is about to start, and Michael Russek is glued to his television. As the average baseball fan sits down to take in the biggest game of the season, Russek’s view is a little different than most. He’s paying closer attention to the smaller intricacies of the game: the threads the players are wearing, along with their batting gloves and bats.
“You run patterns in your mind and we’re always sitting there like, ‘Oh, look at that dirt stain.’ Or, ‘Look, he’s missing his button.’ We’re always picking those out,” Russek said.
As a founding partner and senior authenticator at Photo-Match.com , Russek is always fixated on what most consider minor details, but they are of utmost importance for his job. Russek knows an item prominently used in a game he’s watching could be on his office desk the following week.
Lo and behold, a jersey of Houston Astros star Jose Altuve was submitted to Photo-Match.com not long after the Astros won the World Series.
“For big events, with all of the camera angles and all of the photographers there, there’s an abundance of available imagery,” Russek said. “So, when you’re watching the game in 4K these days on
