Holy Grails of Mediocrity
 

What the hell am I talking about?

Let me 'splain it to you.

I'm looking for images of cards where there is a marked discrepancy between the cost of the card and the career or value of the player.

Ironically I am choosing a HOFer as the benchmark to explain the concept.
Honus Wagner, the "Grail" himself, had his card been published in comparable numbers to Mr. Cobb should be of comparable value, but

a "good" Wagner (T206) is worth $1,000,000 &
a "good" Cobb (T206) is worth $1,000

so the card value is inflated x1000 due to card rarity.

Slow Joe Doyle is even worse with the even rarer variation being linked to a player with a mediocre career. I would classify him as a variation rarity

In the bubble gum era Andy Pafko is an example of a journeyman outfielder whose 1952 Topps card is inflated in value because of the #1 and its interface with the dreaded rubber band. This card is therefore inflated due to condition rarity. Condition rarity pricing is skewed to the NM end of the scale.

In the modern era the variation rarity that comes to mind is the 89 Fleer Billy Ripken variations. Even if one of these were worth $20, the normal base card in that set for a player of his caliber is one penny. Going back to the Wagner ratio calculation, a similar ratio for Ripken would be 2000 to 1.

Finally another classification should be added. The T212 Obak set contains what I would classify as a name rarity. Mr. Million, which is believed to be his correct last name, was named Ten by his mother so that he would stand out. Well, his baseball career fizzled after 4 mediocre seasons in the Northwest League, but his card valued appreciated simply due to his name, Ten Million. I would note that there are manner mediocre players in the T212 sets, especially the T212-1 set, but none stands out from the field as much as Mr. Million.

I am not going to make an effort to list all qualifiers for this thread, but if you have an expensive card (a holy grail) of a mediocre player, please post it. I'm sure that I do not have a card in the 1000 to 1 category, but will post an example none the less. I look forward to seeing examples of

Hoblitzell "no stats" (205)
"suffered" Wilhelm (205)
Milt Bolling (53T)
Lloyd Moore (39PB)
Benny Bengough (33G)

and all the other "Holy Grails of Mediocrity"

Let's see 'em.:D

This thread from 2 years ago was along similar lines. Probably a few good ones listed there..

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=138482

I loved the cards of Wally Moon on the other thread. Unbelievable unibrow. I have to buy one now...

I am surprised that thread didn't have the t206 Titus mentioned or Art Whitney and his dog. Or the one that never even really played baseball - Willie Breslin.

Well, since you mentioned it, here is my only post-1965 card:

Attachment 97983

Clarification
 

David's thread not withstanding, the intent here is to showcase cards whose value exceeds by multiples of 10, 100 or 1000 that of the comparable common card.;)

Scans are encouraged, but the focus here is not eyebrows, mustaches, afros or guys named Willie who didn't play baseball.:D

A community collection of scans of the treasured cards of mediocre players is what I'm shooting for.:)

Here's another variation rarity:

Attachment 97984

Demmitt and O'Hara didn't do squat in St. Louis and were almost included in Post #1, but I didn't want this to be another mundane T206 thread.

Mediocre was Demmitt's middle name, I believe.:D

Thanks Sean

PS - If this thread gets started in the right direction, I will not do a "Zone" response to every scan. I promise.

That wasn't the intent of that thread. Just kinda where it wound up going..:D

how about the Upper Deck Michael Jordan Jordan card from the early 90's...91' I think. Sure he is one of the best Bsketball players of all time...but did nothing on the baseball field?

Or the t210 mascot card...

I don't know if the Jordan would count. For one, it's value was really just part of the insert craze. Secondly, It was Jordan, they could've made a card of him eating sardines while wearing a tinfoil hat, and it would've been worth $5.. Why not just add the Tom Selleck "Mr. Baseball" card while we're at it.. Or the SuperPro card from 1990 ProSet football. Heck, even those Santa cards got a little out of hand.

Though Willie didn't play ML baseball he still fits your description.
I don't own the card but this card commands a premium... unless you think $1300 for a psa 2 isn't a premium over others in the set?http://www.legendaryauctions.com/Ite...2003a_med.jpeg

In the modern card field, how about
 

1977 Topps FB Vince Papale
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/1977-TOPPS-39...JF!~~60_58.JPG

BV is $20 rather than $.20, because they made a movie about him.

Another modern one is the 2012 Schumaker topps card with the squirrel:
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/2012-Topps-Sk...sng~~60_57.JPG
The one above sold for $86 on April 17th on ebay, whereas an autographed Schumaker's card that shows his entire body with no Squirrel recently sold for $8.99 and a non autographed one sold for a dollar

T205 Wilhelm "suffered"
 

Kaiser Wilhelm played off and on over 18 yrs with 5 different teams.

Win-loss record 56-105
Earned run average 3.44
Strikeouts 444

I'm all for including the Tom Selleck card...and would pay multiples for a card of Shaq stuffing peeps in his mouth from the jimmy falon show a few weeks ago?!?!

Titus isn't worth that much in comparison, and stop insinuating it is until after I have one for my collection :)

1991 Donruss Andy Hawkins error. Should say "no hit's White Sox" instead of "pitcher." This is the only graded example.

Here is a brief write up on the card from Junkwaxgems.com

http://junkwaxgems.wordpress.com/tag...hawkins-error/

nice:D

Please forgive me for indulging myself: ;)

http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...yDogSGC70.jpeg

I was referencing the other thread that was in the quote. That thread's question was "players who are probably more known for a card than their career".

Damn. Even the 'smiley face' doesn't work around here.

1948 Leaf Rocky Graziano. Card scarcity. Sells for 100x-1000x cards from same set in similar condition.

http://www.legendaryauctions.com/Ite...08272_med.jpeg

1952 topps pafko

Anything Moe Berg sells for multiples of what it should based on his career alone, however die hard Jewish collectors and the mystique of his pseudo life as a spy push his price to HOF levels. Interesting as it crosses the spectrum to of all of his collectibles and is not relegated to just a particular issue that was short printed or features variations.

Well, let's get some photos of the Pafko and Moe Berg...

Not a RC
 

but Moe Berg as a Dodger rookie

Neither of them made the majors, but they were the only players from the OJ set pictured with these teams and both are hard to find, so that makes them extra mediocre and expensive

Now that is a card! My only 'modern' obsession. Only dozens and dozens of versions. My Website:)

How about the 1969 Brian (Bryon) Piccolo football card? It is his rookie card, but Piccolo's career was certainly nothing remarkable. His death was tragic, and was the topic of Brian's Song. But, the value of his rookie card from the 1969 set is comparable to that of Hall of Famer Larry Csonka. Certainly that seems a bit out of whack.

IMO, Graziano doesn't fit with the majority of guys listed in the thread. Yes, his card sells for far more than the rest of the '48 Leaf set due to its extreme rarity. But Graziano was far above mediocre. He was middleweght champion and is a boxing Hall of Famer.

To me, a better boxing reference would be Bob Murphy in the '51 Topps set. Murphy is largely forgotten these days other than by hardcore boxing fans, yet the Bob Murphy card in the '51 Topps is the highest priced card in the set.

Does this one count?

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psd87e6875.jpg

(not my card, of course)

Bill O'Hara
 

How about Bill O'Hara? People are willing to lay down a lot of cash for his St. Louis T206 card. This for a guy that played two seasons in the majors (124 games), hit .232, 1 home run and had 32 RBIs.

Here's an article on Ten. His daughter was Dixillion, I believe (mark m can no doubt correct me if it is not) and I believe she went by Dixie . She doesn't have a baseball card.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3021/2...00702c1c_o.jpg

Here's another Ten article. There was of course no success in Cleveland.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3148/2...5c0_z.jpg?zz=1

Close, but no (Cuban) cigar
 

Max, Her name was Decillion Million . She just passed away a few years ago. Link to her obit is below http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sea...01#fbLoggedOut

How about the 1952 Black Star Campos? A five dollar card in ex becomes five thousand!

Tom C