Innholdsfortegnelse for May 1, 2023 i Sports Collectors Digest

LEADING OFF As hobbyists, there are few things more enjoyable than a fellow collector giving you a card he knows you will enjoy and treasure. Last summer, I was visiting my friend Keith Medlin and his family when he pulled out boxes of baseball cards he had collected over the years. We spent the next two hours sorting through cards and reminiscing about players we grew up idolizing and rooting for. Before I left, Keith slid a card across the table and said, “Here, I want you to have this one.” It was a 1979 rookie card of former Braves star Bob Horner, a slugger Keith and I had both enjoyed watching in the 1980s. Though I had several cards of 1980s Braves star Dale Murphy, I did not have…

The 2023 MLB season kicked into gear with “business as usual” performances by slugger/pitcher Shohei Ohtani, the game’s most dynamic player. Ohtani slammed a couple of tape-measure home runs in Week 1, naturally, and made two starts on the mound, during which he produced 18 strikeouts in 12 innings while compiling a 0.75 ERA. The performances begged the ongoing question: Is Ohtani more valuable as a hitter or hurler? Lucky for the LA Angels, there’s no need to think about that question. They’ll keep him in the 3 spot in the batting order, behind Mike Trout, and trot him out to pitch every fifth or sixth day. Meanwhile, collectors will keep opening their wallets wider and wider. In the past couple of weeks, we saw multiple bidding wars for Ohtani…

A professional model bat used by Babe Ruth during the 1920-21 seasons sold for a record $1.85 million in a private sale by Hunt Auctions. The sale is a record for any baseball bat, surpassing a Ruth bat that sold for $1.68 million last year. The bat, used during Ruth’s record-setting 1921 season, is widely regarded as one of the finest surviving Ruth bats. According to the provenance, it was once displayed at the Polo Grounds in New York alongside other game-used bats used by Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby in the early 1940s. It was also photo-matched by PSA/DNA lead photographic expert Henry Yee to a 1921 photograph picturing Ruth swinging the bat during a game. MLB DEBUT PATCHES All rookies making their MLB debuts this season will have…

THE HOBBY IS THE PEOPLE We all know sports has its unwritten rules. I don't know about you but I feel the hobby does as well. I coined them “Hobby Mantras” and recently posted them randomly on my podcast's social media platforms. Most I came up with on my own but they come from a common-sense point of view or a do-the-right-thing philosophy. I adopted a few that were submitted by listeners and added them to the list. There's about 20 on the list and I thought I'd share some of my favorite and most pertinent ones. I've even combined some due to parallels or similarities. Enjoy the hobby Enjoy the hobby. Hobby your own way. Be the CEO of your hobby. Collect what you like. I combined these four…

For a complete listing of upcoming shows, visit www.sportscollectorsdigest.com ALABAMA May 13 AL, Birmingham. Vintage Card Show at Rickwood Field, America’s Oldest Ball Park, 1137 2nd Avenue W Birmingham, AL 35204. SH: Sat. 9am-4pm. T:25 ($35). A: Free. Contact: Mike Newton bamadadtimes2@gmail.com May 13 AL, Pelham. The Flip Sports Card & Collectibles Trade Show, Pelham Arena, 500 Amphitheater Rd, Pelham, AL 35124. SH: 10am-5pm. T: 200+ ($75-$95). A: $6 Contact: Daniel TheFlipTradeShow@Gmail.com ARKANSAS May 13 AR, Conway. Conway Sports Cards Show, ELITE Academy, 1400 Old Morrilton Hwy. #3513, Conway, AR. SH: 9am-3pm. T: 50. A: Free. Contact: Clay Winn claywinn32@yahoo.com. ARIZONA May 6 AZ, Tempe (Phoenix). Collectibles on College — Tempe Monthly, University Presbyterian Church, 139 E. Alameda Dr., Tempe, AZ 85281. SH: 10am-3pm. T: 65 ($50-60, free lunch for…

EDITOR’S NOTE SCD encourages a diversity of voices and views. Please limit letters to 200-400 words and include your name, city and state. SCD reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity. Please email letters to jowens@aimmedia.com. Growing up in Portland Ore. in the late 1970s, Triple-A baseball was the ONLY game in town (pre-cable TV). The Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League [PCL] were our team and one I took a shine to since my maternal grandpa had been a PCL minor leaguer after WW II. During my youth, the Beavers were the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1979-82. Consequently, the Portland Beavers items from that era are favorites of mine. Minor League baseball, though, certainly wasn't “king” at all back then. Programs,…

There are many collecting projects out there. Some collect a particular player. Some go after cards of their favorite team. Some pursue more broad topics like Hall of Famers or Cy Young Award winners. But one pursuit I don’t see much in the hobby, whether on social media or on the PSA Set Registry, is a collection of No. 1 MLB Draft Picks. So I decided to put together a guide to collecting rookie cards of the top picks from 1965-2021. Some require some investment due to the success of the player (i.e. Ken Griffey, Jr.) but many require only a search of the quarter or 50-cent box at your local LCS. This guide provides a look at rookie cards with a brief backstory on each player. 2021: Henry Davis…