Innholdsfortegnelse for July 1, 2023 i Sports Collectors Digest

LEADING OFF I love lists, particularly starting lineups and batting orders. When I was a kid, I poured through sports magazines making lists of the lineups for every major league team. I memorized them and could recite their batting averages and stats without looking them up. I was a fantasy baseball expert before fantasy baseball was even invented. So when SCD contributor Doug Koztoski suggested creating an All-Star lineup of Hall of Famers who played for just one team, I was all in. Doug’s list (see page 38) is fascinating, particularly his statistical analysis of each selection. I enjoyed it so much I decided to create my own list. Call it the rival All-Star team, or second string. Compiling such lists is not easy. There are only 187 former major…

NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain was so dominant in his 1959-60 rookie season that he captured both the league MVP and Rookie of the Year awards. The 7-1 center averaged a record 37.6 points and 27 rebounds per game and broke eight NBA records during his rookie season with the Philadelphia Warriors. “Wilt the Stilt” was so dominant the NBA named the annual Rookie of the Year Award after him last year. The uniform Chamberlain wore throughout the 1959-60 season was up for bid in a special, single-lot spotlight auction at SCP Auctions. It had an estimated value of more than $2 million and an early bid of more than $1 million. It was expected by SCP to set a record for game-worn memorabilia. Chamberlain wore the uniform for home regular-season…

This summer marks the 90th anniversary of the first official MLB All-Star Game. Chicago’s Comiskey Park, the White Sox former home, delivered the initial lineups of baseball luminaries. The Seattle Mariners’ stadium, T-Mobile Park, hosts this year’s battle of big league stars on July 11. Other than a couple of cancellations along the way, the “Midsummer Classic” has taken place every year since 1933. Celebrating the summer baseball exhibition, I assembled a hypothetical All-Star team starting lineup from Baseball Hall of Famers who played exclusively for one MLB franchise. The list, going around the horn from first base to catcher and pitcher, reflects the player’s primary position and leans heavy on the increasingly more utilized statistic WAR (Wins Above Replacement), via Baseball-Reference.com, rounded to the nearest number. 1B LOU GEHRIG…

THE HOBBY IS THE PEOPLE Kayla Norsworthy is young but don't let her age fool you. She's grown up a sports fan and it led her to sports card collecting. In 2013 Kayla started to attend Tampa Bay Rays games, which was her local team at that time. She noticed people getting their cards signed by the players. Soon she was seeking out baseball cards. She pulled a Manny Machado rookie, her favorite non-Rays player, out of her first couple of packs. She knew she was in this hobby for the long haul. The cards allowed her to meet some of her favorite players, including Willy Adames. Five years later her family moved to northern Virginia and she started attending Frederick Keys minor leagues games in Maryland. She was drawn…

If you love and appreciate baseball history, then you understand why it’s fun just to look at Ty Cobb’s season-by-season stats. The man was a hit machine who lined, slashed, slapped and bunted his way to 4,189 hits (to go with 1,249 walks) over his 24-year career. He hit over .400 three times, and he won 11 battling titles. Cobb’s career average? An outrageous .366. Now there’s a record that may never be broken. We bring up Cobb because of an eBay lot that sold for $23,000 in June. A seller offered a pair of well-preserved baseballs autographed by Cobb in 1960. Both were in their original Rawlings boxes, and both were clearly signed by Cobb at the same sitting. The provenance? The balls were signed in 1960, as the…

NOTE: If you have a show listing, follow the style below and send to jowens@aimmedia.com. ALABAMA July 8 AL, Daphne. Gulf Coast Card Show, Daphne Civic Center, 2603 US Hwy 98,Daphne, AL 36526. SH: 9am-6pm. T: 100 ($125). A: Free. Contact : Nathan Carraway Ncarraway@bighitsportscards.com July 15 AL, Birmingham. Vintage Sports Card and Memorabilia Show at Americas Oldest Ballpark — Rickwood Field, 1137 2nd Avenue W., Birmingham, 35204. SH: 9am-4pm. T:25 ($40). A: Free Contact: Mike Newton 205-616-2761 bamadadtimes2@gmail.com July 22 AL, Montgomery. The Flip Sports Card & Collectibles Trade Show, Alcazar Shriners, 555 Eastern Blvd, Montgomery, AL 36117. SH: 10am-4pm. T: 125 ($75-95). A: $6. Contact: Daniel TheFlipTrade-Show@Gmail.com. ARIZONA July 1 AZ, Tempe (Phoenix). Collectibles on College — Tempe Monthly, University Presbyterian Church, 139 E. Alameda Dr., Tempe, AZ…

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. As a child, I had a love-hate relationship with sticks of Topps trading card gum. Sometimes I would toss it on the ground and gleefully watch it shatter into a billion pieces. Other times, I would stuff as many pieces of bubble gum in my mouth as I could and produce a sugary wad big enough to clog a toilet. To mourn the loss of baseball card gum and all the Rorschach-test stains they left on our precious cardboard, I have self-commissioned a custom art piece. The tribute involves a…