Conundrum Looming

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by steve B

All this just makes me wonder who, and why he's hated enough that people don't want to buy his cards...

Well, Rich is obviously an AL (East) guy based on his avatar. Probably in his early/mid 50's based on the statement that he started collecting in 1976. And that this guy's 1950'-1960's cards cost hundreds to thousands of dollar each. He also stated that he hated the team that the player played for.

If I'm an Orioles fan, there's one team at the top of my dislike list. And one player on that team that has expensive cards in the 1950's - 1960's.

You've got three guesses and the first two don't count.

Did I say that I hate it when conundrums loom?

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

My meaningless advice to the OP: It's your collection, if you don't like the card/player, don't buy it. Spend your money on cards you want.

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by vintagebaseballcardguy

My meaningless advice to the OP: It's your collection, if you don't like the card/player, don't buy it. Spend your money on cards you want.

+1 Brian Powell

[JollyElm]

Although it doesn't fit the time frame or narrative, the OP's scenario makes me immediately think of O.J. Simpson. I (and I'm sure a crapload of other people) will never spend a dime on any of his cards.

[uyu906]

And here I thought I was being circumspect!

Rich

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

Well, Rich is obviously an AL (East) guy based on his avatar. Probably in his early/mid 50's based on the statement that he started collecting in 1976. And that this guy's 1950'-1960's cards cost hundreds to thousands of dollar each. He also stated that he hated the team that the player played for.

If I'm an Orioles fan, there's one team at the top of my dislike list. And one player on that team that has expensive cards in the 1950's - 1960's.

You've got three guesses and the first two don't count.

Did I say that I hate it when conundrums loom?

[steve B]

Ok, that makes some sense.

Being a Red sox fan*, I'm not big on some other teams...
And to me some players are perhaps slightly overrated...

But it's hard to actually hate a great player though, even if he did play for the "wrong" team.

Oj is an odd one for me. I totally get why people don't want his card. I already had most of them, having started collecting in late 73. (Mostly)
I try to separate what someone does on-field and off. I do like a player better if they seem to be good off the field too.



* My wife is from just north of DC, and is an Orioles fan Our deal is that I have to be too, unless they're playing the Red Sox. The reverse also applies.
So I actually get to be a fan of two teams (same for football. But not Hockey or Basketball)

[Volod]

This thread seems to have evolved into an open-ended discussion, so my two cents shouldn't offend anyone. The identity of the "mystery" team in question seems apparent. As a Cleveland sports guy, I can easily empathize with any fans of other American League teams that have suffered at the hands (bats, gloves, sign-stealing techniques, etc.) of the most successful team in the league over the past century. My team has appeared in a total of five World Series in that time and lost three of them. Not counting the St. Louis Browns history, the OP's favorite franchise has appeared in six WS and won half of them. The Orioles have lost just twice ('96 and '12) in postseason play to the Pinstripes. We don't need to go into the history of that dasdardly topdog organization, but two of its other long-time punching bags...er, opponents, seem to have a stronger claim to Gotham envy than O's rooters: The White Sox have triumphed in just one of the last 100 WS played. Likewise, the Washington Senators - no relation to the current champ Nats - while winning just one and losing two WS in the first forty years of the last century, managed to win two out of three WS appearances in their reincarnation as the Twins. Minnie supporters have, however, suffered more greatly under the NY yoke than other AL teams in recent competition - losing six times in post-season play since 2003. So, maybe the upshot of all this BB angst is - why do Twinkie fans suffer in silence here?

[jingram058]

Can we all agree that this may be, could be, the most overrated ballplayer of all-time? A great ballplayer, yes, but maybe not the greatest thing since sliced cheese? It's like my dad, who was a Great Depression/World War II kind of guy, always said...out of all the great bands, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, who would've guessed that Lawrence Welk would be the one who made it into TV and last the longest? Why are this guy's cards so darned valuable? It's not that they are any rarer or fewer of them than any other ballplayers.

[Exhibitman]

Bill James had Mantle number ten in career win shares and number three at his peak three years. I don’t know that Mantle the player is overrated but a few of his cards are. Call it Yankee mystique, racism or whatever you want but his cards have been at a premium ever since I can remember.

[jingram058]

When I was a kid collecting cards, and when playing pee wee, junior league, and neighborhood baseball, his cards were quite popular, and his name was in the discussions. Then as time went by and baseball cards started to become worth real money, what was it, 1980s? Early 1990s? His cards were always at the top.