1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth sells for more than the T206 Wagner

[Zone91]

steve B

Same could be said if Adolf Hitler came from Canada....but history is history and he did not so everyone remembers him as the # 1 villain of humankind.

No one can change the past...Aaron lucked out in fame versus Mantle just the way things went down.

Post # 9

[Zone91]

It is like the great artist in painting no modern day painter will be as popular as the greats from the past just will not happen EVEN if most today paint better!!! Who in his right mind would pay 100$ million dollars for a modern day painting (and for me same goes for any old painting but people do pay that kind of money why because they are Legends in their field).

Post # 10

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by Zone91

It is like the great artist in painting no modern day painter will be as popular as the greats from the past just will not happen EVEN if most today paint better!!! Who in his right mind would pay 100$ million dollars for a modern day painting (and for me same goes for any old painting but people do why because they are Legends in their field).

Post # 10

Oh, those modern paintings can go for quite a bit of money. I don't know about $100mn, but $50mn, yes.

[Zone91]

cyseymour

My point was that the great artists from the past will always be remembered no matter what and there paintings will always command high prices even if they where painted over 400 years ago.

Babe Ruth has been dead for 3 generations now and people still love the guy and collect him as for Mantle it has been only 1 generation since he has died.

Baseball is just to important in America for people to forget the true legends of the game!! Hockey yes people forget about the truly old players (from the early 1900's) but not baseball.

Plus people in the U.S are probably one of the countries who care more about their history than any other nation on Earth so people will remember....way to many books/movies exist about U.S history for people to just forget.

Post # 11

[steve B]

Hmm....Lots of stuff to consider.

CySeymour - we've had a slow art conversation in the off topic section. While looking some stuff up I was amazed that something like 9 of the top 10 auction sale prices were for art from the 1900's. And most of that from the last half of the century.

Andrew- My point was that publicity has as much to do with how a player becomes an iconic character. Without publicity of their exploits it either never happens, or doesn't get to the same stature. Mantle is obviosly an iconc figure, but if it had been the Yankees moving to SF, I don't think he would be. (And I'll counter your Canadian Hitler with a western Pol Pot or a less secretive Stalin, or even an Andrew Jackson going agianst a larger population. ) Look at a couple modern players - Ken Griffey Jr. - some hype early, some injury issues, and eventually a great 22 years that put him over 600HR. But nearly the entire last half of his career was pretty quiet on the PR front. Jim Thome - another 22 years, also over 600 HR and not even a hint of steroids. His entire career played in small larket places, and he's not a flashy guy. If you can call 7th all time in hr not flashy.
Reggie Jacksons 5 years in NY were ones of amazing celebrity, but weren't really that impressive.
When you think late 70's power hitters, who do you think of first? Jackson or Rice? Jackson or Hisle? (Hisle had more HR and more RBI in both 77 and 78 before injury finished him.) Jackson or Gorman Thomas? Jackson or really any of the players who had 18 better HR seasons between 77 and 79?
Publicity has a LOT to do with it.

On the card front, I wonder how much the 52 Mantle affected his iconic image? I don't think either would be quite the same without the other.

For that matter, how much does a "great" card affect any player? Baltimore news wasn't a big deal till recently, but would Ruth be as famous without the Goudeys? Would Wagner be as famous without the T206, or if it wasn't an uncommon card? That maybe belongs in another thread, as it's getting a bit off topic.

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I'm having a hard time distinguishing between MattyC and Zone91. Maybe a slightly different avatar for the latter is in order?

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