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An American Hobby: Baseball Memorabilia – Honus Wagner: The Most Expensive Card Ever
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Honus Wagner was an 8 time Batting Average Champion – who was a Doubles (643, 9th ALL – Time) and Triples (252, 3rd ALL-Time) Machine. He Stole 723 Bases (10th ALL – Time).. He is ranked as the #4 Hitter in the history of baseball by baseballreference.com (Ruth, Mays and Williams Top 3).
By Lee Edelstein (‘Baseball MemorabiliaEnthusiast’ – visit his website here) Follow @chinmusicstory
MLB Reports: We are pleased to present you with Baseball Author Lee Edelstein as the newest writer with us at the Reports. Lee will be providing us with great stories about baseball memorabilia on a regular basis.
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An American Hobby
Blog 4
Flipping Over Cards – The T206 Wagner The Most Expensive Card of All
As a kid I wasn’t much of a ballplayer, but when it came to collecting baseball cards I was an All-Star. As a matter of fact, over half a century later, I still collect them. Of course, the hobby has changed a bit over the years.
For a five-year period, from 1954-58, baseball cards were the most important thing in my life. As winter turned to spring training, I, along with most of my friends, would bug our parents to take us to the candy store, to see if the Topps cards for the upcoming season had arrived. Each year, those first cards, sealed in that season’s unique wax pack wrapper, were objects of unbearable anticipation.
I would arrange my new stack of cards in numerical order, tossing the duplicates into a separate pile. A few minutes admiring the pictures of the players, a rubber band wound tightly around them to secure my precious items, and off I went to catch up with my friends to compare, trade from my pile of duplicates, and flip. We’d attach triplicates to the spokes of our bicycle wheels so that they sounded like full-throated motorcycles as we sped down the street. As the baseball season progressed, our piles got large enough that we employed shoe boxes to store our cache.
Wagner T206 Card mystery video
The Most Underrated Statistic: Extra Base Hits (XBH)
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Alex Rodriguez is the Active Leader for XBH with 1190, however who knows when he will have a chance to resume his career again with injuries + allegations of PED use perhaps sparking an investigation/suspension for the MLB and is still owed 114 Million Dollars over the next 5 years.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
I have nothing against sabermetrics in baseball. Yes I know they are not going away and I will probably learn them one day as someone who can comprehend Math pretty good. However, I understand the frustration of the casual fan who will not set a foot near them – although they know what Home Runs and Runs Batted In are. I have thrown the topic out for discussion on Twitter – and am extremely curious to see what percentage of fans actually follow the new numbers formats. This site totally allows our writers to convey any form of statistical analysis they want. The only thing that I request, is that if they use sabermetrics, to also add some regular stats with them.
One of the stats that can gauge any era since the beginning of baseball is Extra Base Hits. Before the fences were brought in (or even put up), Doubles and Triples could be hit at any time. Singles are great in the game too. There have been several great baseball players that are singles hitters, that also compiled a bunch of Doubles and Triples. That is why this statistic is fairest to all of the hitters in the history of the game and the most comparable. Like the old saying, (hit’em where they ain’t), players that can hit the baseball into the open areas of the outfield are special. Babe Ruth re-coined the phrase later when he said “Well they ain’t over the fence, so that’s where I hit them!” The Bambino was right. In the course of this article, we will list the top active list for this category – and some underrated hitters that may stack up nicely against historical hitters.
(Pete Rose Highlights):
Part 1 of a Series: All-Time All-Star Teams By Regionality
Friday November 23th, 2012
Note from Alex Mednick: I am going to be putting together a small project that accumulates all the best players of all time, and puts them together on teams according to their birthplace. For example, in this first edition I will be breaking down players from the United States of America into teams from the 1) Northeast, 2) Southeast, 3) Midwest, and 4) Southwest…(sorry, there really is not enough quality coming out of the northwest to compete with these teams…maybe I will put a Northwestern United States team in a later edition with less competitive teams). Later on I will bring you teams assembled from the all-time greats out Central and South American (Mexico, Venezuela, Panama, Panama Canal Zone, etc.) and the All-Caribbean Team (Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Curacao, etc). Also look forward to teams from Japan, Canada and the EU. Should be fun to sort of assemble an “Olympics” of Baseball. I love watching the World Baseball Classic and seeing players fight for their nations pride…but by grouping the teams by region, it might make the teams more competitive. Of course, this is all for the sake of speculation; Babe Ruth was a great player, but I don’t think he will be taking any at-bat’s soon. (Also, please note that I do not lend consideration to relief pitchers in this analysis). Read the rest of this entry
Looking to Break the Pete Rose Hits Record: All Eyes Are On Derek Jeter
Saturday November 3rd, 2012
Luke Whitecotton: Pete Rose likes to talk baseball whenever he gets the chance to. When the subject comes up of someone breaking his all-time hits record, you know that Pete will always express his opinion. Since he is banned from baseball and will not likely ever make it into the Hall of Fame, you can’t help but think if this record is his “hall of fame”. That is likely why he is so protective of it. Pete Rose probably doesn’t want to hear that records are meant to be broken, and his one day will. But do any current active players even have a remote chance at the all-time hits record? There is a player out there who, if everything goes absolutely right, and the stars align could very well break this record. The climb to get there will be astronomical, and when you see the stats one would have to get in order to be successful, you probably will agree there is no way it will happen. Well in baseball if there is a will and a way, a record is probably going to be broken. Cal Ripken broke the record of most consecutive games played, which everyone thought that was unbreakable. Barry Bonds (who with a little help one might say), broke Hank Aaron’s home run record. And maybe one day someone will break the 56 game hit streak. So you see Pete Rose- someone could break your all-time hits record. With a little luck and skill, that guy is playing the game today. His name? Derek Jeter. Read the rest of this entry
Top 10 Stat of the Week ( Career HRs With One Team )
Sunday June.24/2012
‘Hammering’ Hank passed the legendary Babe Ruth as the ALL-Time HR leader in 1974. Some still feel that he is the ALL-Time HR leader with the admitted steroid use from Leader Barry Bonds. –Photo courtesy of goldenagebaseballcards
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- Seemingly gone are the days where most of the MLB players stick with one team for their whole careers. As of right now there are not too many superstars that have spent their entire careers with one organization. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are 1st ballot Hall of Famers. Chipper Jones should make the BBHOF. Todd Helton is close to retiring but I am not sure the voters will see him worthy. There are some promising chances that Ryan Braun and David Wright might play their entire careers with their current clubs, however with Braun’s PED fiasco last year I just don’t see him entering Cooperstown. Wright must re-sign with the ownership hemorrhaging, this will prove hard for the Wilpons funds thanks to Bernie Madoff. When it comes to starting pitching, the list is shrunken that much further. Justin Verlander is the active win leader with a player only having played for one team. He has 114 wins with the Tigers, anybody above him on the active ALL-Time Wins list has pitched for multiple teams already. The next active leader for one team pitched for is Ervin Santana with 91 wins for the Angels franchise. Felix Hernandez has 90 wins for the Mariners. Tim Lincecum, Cole Hamels and Matt Cain have played their entire careers for the same team so far and have CY Young titles amongst them, but have a long way to go in establishing Hall of Fame Careers.
That brings me to my next stat. There are 9 players in history who have hit 500 HRs or more for one team. All of them are in the Hall of Fame except for Barry Bonds (who becomes eligible next year.) I am not sure the writers will cast a vote for him because of his steroid use. When I got the idea for this article, it came to be because I was amazed that Paul Konerko has hit over 400 HRs with the Chicago White Sox. Again at age 36, Konerko has a look at 500 HRs with the Chicago team. Right now he can end the season with about 410-420 HRs. Provided he can play 3-4 years more and have productive seasons, he may reach the milestone. Chipper Jones is the only other active MLB Player to have 400 HRs with one team. Larry is slowing down though and will most likely retire after this year. Read the rest of this entry
Baseball As My Muse: Baseball Artist Margie Lawrence – Guest Blog
Saturday June 9th, 2012
Margie Lawrence (Guest Blogger): Having grown up blocks from the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, I had no choice but to fall in love with the Cubs.
The organ music and cheers of the crowd would drift through the open windows of my school, which sat a mere block from the bleacher entrance. And like many of my loves, the Cubs have disappointed me, but I still keep the hope alive that one day everything will be all right in the world and they—we— will win a World Series.
My first baseball memory involved 20 or so family members crowded around the portable TV cheering Sandy Koufax on during the 1963 World Series. Later on, I would pretend I was Sandy or Fergie Jenkins or Ken Holtzman, throwing what I perceived to be a curve ball at a small painted square on a brick wall. That square was always Mickey Mantle, for some reason. I was 11, it was 1969. My height was about that of a munchkin, and I may have weighed at 65 pounds. If only I could have played on a Little League team…but damn those girl chromosomes. (And damn those Mets!) Read the rest of this entry
Passing of the Torch as The Greatest Player in The MLB: From Pujols to Hamilton
Wednesday June.6, 2012
Josh Hamilton is on pace for 64 HRs and 177 RBI in 2012 with a .345 AVG. He has taken over as the best player in MLB from Albert Pujols -Photo Courtesy of http://www.real-fans.com
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- While watching Josh Hamilton this year, I started thinking about the best players in the MLB over the last 33 years. I am talking the best player of the game at any point of time. I tracked back to 1979 for this article. I may expand further back in follow up articles. I did rank defense highly when I came up with the players. I did agonize over Mike Schmidt, Jim Rice, Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken for some of the years given in specific time frames. These gentlemen were given every consideration. In the end, we are talking about the best player in the game though and it is always subject to debate and personal opinion. The criteria had to involve leading the league in several different offensive and/or defensive categories, followed by routinely being in the top 7 in MVP balloting(if not taking home the honor), All-Star Appearances for every year I listed them for and most of them won silver sluggers and/or Gold Gloves as well.
George Brett won batting titles in 3 different decades and flirted with .400 in 1980 while hitting .390 for the year. -Photo courtesy of lanius.wordpress.com
George Brett 1979-1983-George Brett was the best hitter in the game from 1979-1983. He hit for a .320 average and slugged his way to having the Royals as perennial contenders. He led the league in triples (20) and hits in 1979. In 1980, he hit .390 with a .454 OBP, 664 SLG and a 1.118 OBP which led the league. In 1983, Brett led the league in slugging an OPS once again. Brett won the MVP in 1980 and was the runner-up in 1979. In 1985, George Brett would lead the Royals to a World Series. He later won a batting title at age 37 with a .329 average. This was the toughest time frame to judge from 1979-1983. Mike Schmidt was an incredible force at third base with huge power and Jim Rice also put up mammoth numbers, but in the end I chose George Brett because he was more consistent out of 3. Read the rest of this entry
The Yankees and Their Milestones Tracker: Jeter, A-Rod, Teixeira and CC
Wednesday, May.23/2012
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)-Heading into tonight’s game versus the Kansas City Royals, Derek Jeter sits in 16th all time for the All-time hits list. He is only 3 hits behind Paul Waner and another 5 hits behind George Brett. If Jeter has a decent last 120 games, he could find himself already in the top 10 all time by collecting another 145 hits and passing Willie Mays for 10th all time with 3284 hits by the end of the year. I am not sure how much longer the captain will play, but I think it has to be at least another year or two based on how he has started this campaign out. If he plays another 300 games after this year, you have to think he is capable of averaging a hit per game the rest of his career. This would place him in the top 5 of hits all time behind Pete Rose (4256), Ty Cobb (4191) Hank Aaron (3771) and Stan Musial’s (3630). If I were a betting man, I think that 482 more hits might be asking a little much for the 37-year-old shortstop. Having said this, Jeter will undoubtedly take his place amongst these immortal men by the time he is done playing the game. Read the rest of this entry
An Interview with Wrigley Field ‘Expert’ Bob Devries
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fastestthirtyballgames3021.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/30in20/
Saturday April 21, 2012
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- Bob Devries loves baseball, this much is evidently clear when you get to know his story around the game. I am going to meet Bob in person for the doubleheader attempt of Chicago and Milwaukee. I can think of no other one person than I would rather hang out for the day in Chicago than Bob. His spirits were brought back up back in his life by visiting all of the 30 MLB parks. While my case was entirely different from Bob’s, our common theme is that baseball brought us both back from the depths of despair. I had the chance to talk to Bob about life, baseball and how we share the unique distinction of being the only two people on the planet to have attended a game in every park as a fan for two consecutive years in a row.
DB: “Welcome to the MLB Reports Wrigley Field Expert Interview Bob Please tell us about yourself and then give us some information on your life as a Cub fan?”
BD: “I am just your average, soon to be 49-year-old sports fan. I got married last summer to someone who I have known since we were in the 6th grade and reconnected on Facebook. Charlie (Charlene) and I make our home in McHenry, IL. I work for a distribution company as a logistics manager. I have a stepson, Brent, who is of all things, is a St. Louis Cardinal fan. Brent got to live out a baseball fans’ dream this past season. He was at Busch Stadium for game 6 and 7 of the World Series.
My life as a Cub fan started in 1971 when my dad took me to Wrigley Field for my birthday. I often wonder if we would have gone to old Comiskey Park for a Sox game that day would I be a Sox fan today, thankfully we went to Wrigley.
Being a Cub fan, like all Cub fans, has been met with frustration and disappointment but thru it all we have remained fiercely loyal to the Cubs and always will. Why you ask? I don’t know and I ask myself that question every season when the Cubs are eliminated from the playoffs. Read the rest of this entry
An Interview With AT and T ‘Expert’ Tike Narry
Friday, April.13/2012
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- I will have the chance to meet Tike for the Season Opener for the San Francisco Giants. Tike knows his stuff around the bay area and it today’s featured expert for AT&T Park.
CB: “Welcome to the MLB Reports Expert Interview For AT&T Park Tike. Please tell us about yourself and then give us a bit of background information on your life as a baseball Fan?”
TN: “I’m 39 years old, and attended my first baseball game at age 10. I have been a Giants fan my whole life, and have been a Season Ticketholder at AT&T Park since its opening in 2000. I have attended 679 games Major League, regular-season games entering 2012, with a goal of reaching 1,000 by my 50th birthday, and have attended games in 32 different MLB parks (23 current).”
CB: “As one of the ballpark experts who seen virtually every park, how do you rank AT&T Park versus the rest of the home venues?”
TN: “The only park that can come close to matching the setting of AT&T is PNC Park in Pittsburgh. It is spectacular, on the waterfront in China Basin in San Francisco, with a view across to the East Bay. Seats from right field can see the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and there are very few seats with a bad sight-line in the park. My only complaint about AT&T, and it’s a minor quibble, is the width of the concourses, but that’s to be expected when building a park on just 13 acres.” Read the rest of this entry
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