Trading up

Did your love of card collecting come from your father or another relative or did you just begin to do it yourself?  How about your love of sports?  Did it provide a bonding opportunity between you and your dad (or mom.....don't wanna leave the ladies out)? 

In order to bring the young folks who brought sports cards to the dance as a hobby generations ago, I've long been of the opinion that it will take many more moments like the one mentioned in this blog piece to fully revive this passion we love so much.  Also, note how this particular dad is using cards as a way to teach his son about fair trade.  He could probably teach Congress a thing or two about that concept. 

"Your Kid Took My Kid's Derek Jeter!"

"What If?" x 29

We all know how this movie will end, but in the meantime, Beckett Media's folks had a little "Fun With Photoshop" day and came up with "cards" for a certain free agent shortstop currently invoved in a contract soap opera with the team we all know he'll end up with when all is said and done.
Am I the only one who thinks the Photoshopping makes him appear to have a freakishly large head in most of these other unis?
TOTALLY FAKE BASEBALL CARDS: 29 Derek Jeters you won’t see in 2011 … and one you just might
XFRPVT4U3RE5

 

Before And After........Roy Halladay

Now that the SIXTH no-hitter of the 2010 season has been racked up, including 2 by the same pitcher, can we officially declare the Steroid Era over?  To put in perspective how truly monumental Roy Halladay's performance was in Game 1 of the NLDS, let's take a quick gander at the history books.  It would be enough if it were simply the first postseason no-no since Don Larsen's perfect game in the '56 World Series (only 2 days shy of 54 years ago), but it's also the first time the same pitcher has thrown 2 no-hitters in a season since Nolan Ryan in 1973 (albeit Ryan's 2 were both regular season no-hitters).  What a way to get your first taste of October baseball!

So what did creating history do for Halladay's card values?  Let's examine the crown jewel for Halladay collectors.  As always, eBay is our barometer here. We'll check the selling price of one prior to tonight and another just after the finishing touch was put on the no-hitter. 

1997 Bowman Roy Halladay Auto Rookie

BEFORE - $259.99

AFTER (7:37 PM Eastern) - $299.00

Unlike other players and cards we've covered (Armando Galarraga, Matt Garza, Jahvid Best), we've only seen a 15% spike this time.  With the stakes far higher and the achievement far more impressive, that seems a little unusual, but let's stop a minute and think of the differences this time around.  First and foremost, Halladay has been one of the top 5 players at his position in baseball for an extended period of time.  He should be a dead solid lock for Cooperstown with three to five more seasons like he's put together throughout his career.  His RC values are already pretty far up there.  Second, and relatively speaking, the '97 Bowman being looked at is also pretty rare.  The 2 we compared and contrasted appear to be the only 2 put up on eBay over the past 30 days.  Demand is already there and supply is short.  Finally, the impulse buyer crowd might bite over the next 24 hours or so on the 2 that are currently listed here and here for $399.  Then it begins to look more like the immediate jump we've come to expect with a virtuoso one game performance. 

Still, if you happen to be holding one of the Halladay cards we covered here, you could do worse than picking up somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 for the 5 minutes or so it takes to list it on eBay. 

 

This Week In Sports Cards

Among this week's happenings in the hobby and sports card industry........

• The usual suspects are driving the vintage card and memorabilia market
• Another reason to visit Yankee Stadium's Museum this summer
• And on that same trip to the Big Apple, a reason to visit the New York Public Library
• Yankee players weren't the only ones to be pictured on a baseball card
• What started as one of the ultimate yard sale finds.........
• .......turns out to be a nightmare for the woman who paid $5 for it & sold it for nearly $10,000
  
• ........and, ultimately, might turn out to be stolen property

For more on the other big stories of the week, read Airwaves, Baseball Cards, and Me each day! Thanks for taking a look! We hope you enjoy stopping off here each day, and please let us know if you have any ideas for blog topics and/or ideas.

The Boss

I can't begin to imagine how Yankee fans are feeling as I write this. First Bob Sheppard, and now George Steinbrenner......on the day of the All-Star Game no less. As a lifelong Atlanta Braves fan, I certainly know what it's like to lose someone you grew up with w/ the passing of Skip Caray. Still not even close to being the same listening to a radio call of the game or a TV broadcast.

I've never been a Yankee fan (thanks in no small part to the 1996 and 1999 World Series), but my heart goes out to each and every one that is today. No matter how you felt about The Boss or his way of doing business, you couldn't help but respect him wanting to win and doing whatever it took financially to do so. Very few figures in sports, or any business, are irreplaceable, but we lost one today. Steinbrenner was one of the first owners to become as big or bigger than the team he owned, and THE first to gain that status via hands-on ownership. Those who have followed (Mark Cuban, Jerry Jones, Dan Snyder, etc.) are all just lame impostors, and two of those three have produced nowhere near the results on the field.

Here's an excellent tribute from Bill Nack from ESPN.com........Rest In Peace, Boss.

For fans in the "small markets".......

The Joe Mauer deal has changed Major League Baseball as we know it, at least for the time being. The Twins have become the first "Moneyball" team since the Rockies sprung for $141.5 million for Todd Helton in 2002 to back up the Brinks truck for a single player. The obvious question is....will the Twins be able to develop or acquire the talent around him to be competitive for the life of the contract? As with most situations in life, there are precedents here. One is a success story and one is a cautionary tale.

Let's start with the bad news.....the now infamous A-Rod deal w/ the Texas Rangers. At more than $25 million a year, or about 25% of player payroll going to a single player, owner Tom Hicks was duped by A-Rod's agent, Scott Boras, into overspending for a superstar in what Bud Selig classified as a "small market". That "small market" is, in reality, the 5th largest media market in the country, but Hicks and Selig can't be burdened with details. Coupled with a weak farm system and saddled with the inability to acquire the talent necessary to build around their franchise player, Hicks eventually cashed in his chips and made the rich Yankees richer. As an average fan, I remember wondering why Boras didn't just eliminate the middle man and have him playing in New York or Boston three years earlier. The Rangers are only now beginning to dig out from the A-Rod hole with stronger homegrown talent.

The Rockies just signed Helton to a 2-year extension through the 2013 season, and the team has successfully built around him over the past few years, culminating in that unbelievable World Series run of 2007. They've developed one of the best farm systems in baseball over the past decade, and they've kept payroll manageable in spite of Helton's hefty salary and acquired players to fill holes as needed. They also have seem to have a pretty bright foreseeable future. The difference is a stronger top-to-bottom organization, from the farm system to the front office to the big league player roster.

So which way will the Twins' movie end @ the expiration of Mauer's megadeal? Recent history seems to point more to the Rockies than the A-Rod era Rangers. The Twins have done a masterful job developing talent that has defied Bud Selig's big market mentality for the past decade. They have also locked up their core of young stars early, wisely avoiding huge arbitration deals. Ron Gardenhire is one of the best field managers in the game. The Target Center will be open for business this season, so fans should flock to a state of the art facility, especially now that their hometown hero will be playing there for years. I won't guarantee a World Series, but for now they are in pretty good shape to make a run.

Or the whole thing tanks and he ends up in pinstripes in exchange for some mid-level minor leaguers three years from now........ :-)