Monday, June 14, 2010

Before & After (& Back To Before)......Armando Galarraga

Ebay often provides the ultimate roller coaster ride of memorabilia value for players who suddenly find themselves in the spotlight for all the right or wrong reasons.

Our spotlight today is on Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga, artist of Major League Baseball's greatest "perfect game that wasn't actually a perfect game" on June 2nd. A look at his 2008 Bowman Sterling Autographed rookie card is a perfect example of how fleeting some moments can be in the ebb and flow of card values. Hours before the blown call heard around the world, the card could be had for just over $3.oo (a little over $6.0o w/ shipping). Several hours later, impulse buyers caused a 483% spike in the value of that same card!! Not quite 2 weeks removed from the moment, and following a far more pedestrian outing in his next start, we're pretty much back where we started.

Moral here? If you happen to be in front of the TV on any given night and hear that sports history is in the making, scour through that card collection, put everything you've got with the face of the player involved on eBay (1 day auction would be recommended in this case), and don't worry about your indirect involvement in someone else's buyer's remorse a week later :-)

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