THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

I’m not sure anyone does, but it’s been a while since I looked for that sort of thing. I’m sure the price guide publishers would at least have the data, but it may not be available, even behind thier subscription curtain.

That article is misleading, at least in regards to some of the card prices.  The Griffey Upper Deck Rookie card was worth far more than $3 back then.  My father was a card dealer and actually traded his old Honda motorcycle to a friend in return for the Upper Deck Griffey rookie card.  I thought it was worth between $150 and $500 back then.  Maybe not in the month the article cites, but at some point within a few months or a year.

As a kid, I bought a Griffey Upper Deck rookie card in 1989 for $10, and I remember seeing them going for $20.  I think I remember Beckett having it in the $10 range for that time period.  Definitely not $3, I doubt anyone couldve managed to buy one for $3.

I didnt follow baseball card prices for about 15 years, and then when Griffey returned to Seattle this year I went online and checked the price of my Griffey cards.  I expected to see them at hundred of $, and when I saw the Upper Deck priced at $40 and the others far less, I was kindof shocked. 

I guess our generation’s 1980s baseball cards will never have the rarity or value of the earlier cards, like my father’s Willie Mays, lost when his mother threw away his card collection.

I don’t know about historical price tracking but there was a site I used years ago that basically allowed you to index your collection and track the values over time or something like that. All I seem to remember now is that it had some round number like 60 or 70 (I seem to recall images of Mark McGwire so maybe it was 70) in its title and the front page had some graph gauging the health of the baseball card market, so if anybody has any idea what site I’m poorly describing and whether or not it still exists, I’d be grateful to know.

*crosses fingers*

Once upon a long time ago (the early 90s), my first ever job was working at baseball card shows(I was 10-12 around that time.) I dabbled a little bit in “investment” cards back then.  I should really get out of mom’s basement and go up to the attic and check to see what all I still have.  I know that I do have a Griffey 89UD.

The April 1989 issue of Beckett was probably in stores on March 16 and at the printer by the begining of March. That was mere weeks after the 89 Upper Deck set came out.

Griffey was definitely $3. My main baseball card shop had a weekly auction. A friend bid $6 on the first 89 UD Griffey that hit the bid board. I remember telling him he was crazy for bidding twice “book”. IIRC, the Griffey hit $10 pretty quickly, then really blew up in 90-91. I think it hit a high of $60, but I’m a little fuzzy on that. It could have reached $100, but I don’t think it ever got into 86D Canseco territory. I also remember the 87F Bonds giving it some competition, and that particular card hit a max of $50 during that time frame.

rwperu34 --- The only other cards from that time frame that took off were the McGwire Olympic Card and the Billy Ripken F###face card.  You remember anything about their values.

I seem to remember the B. Ripken (89F?  Fleer made some ugly baseball cards!) card going for around $10-20 in its heyday, right after it was released.  Now, you can get it for a couple bucks.  I heard he had a brother who did something slightly more noteworthy at some point.

The Griffey definitely got over $100 at one point, I believe it topped out at about $120. My dad got me complete sets of 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992 baseball cards, including Griffey’s set, so I always kept up with it.

My era was from about 1986-1992, so anything that happened after that I don’t really have any idea.

The Ripken might have booked at $30 or $35. I know there was a little hysteria, but it was short lived.

The McGwire really blew up in the late 90s after I was long gone from collecting. One of the last assets I had from my collection was a grocery rack with a McGwire on top that I sold in 1999 or 2000 for $30 or $40. It looked to be a little OC and was well after the hype, which is why the price was so low. The first peak of that card in 1987 was about $30, but it came down in a hurry.

The first card I remember absolutely blowing up was the 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly. In the offseason, that card got up to $90 in Beckett, but that only told half the story. A card I had bought no more than six months earlier for $6 (I’m guessing $10 book value)I was able to sell to a dealer for $90. The insanity around that card in October 1986 was unlike anything I had ever seen.

The biggest cards from the 80s were;
1980 Topps Rickey Henderson-was defintely over $100 after his ridiculous 1990 MVP season.

1986 Donruss Jose Canseco-hit $100 exactly after his 40/40 year in 1988.

1984 Donruss Don Mattingly-I believe the highest this card ever hit in book was $90, but the hype around that card was ludicrous.

Others that might have hit $50 at some point in the late 80s;
1982 Topps Cal Ripken
1983 Topps Ryne Sandberg
1983 Topps Wade Boggs
1984 Fleer Don Mattingly
1985 Donruss Roger Clemens
1987 Fleer Barry Bonds
1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey

I know 1990 Leaf had some hype and I think the Frank Thomas might have reached these heights, but by the time that set came out, I knew we were doomed and I wasn’t reinvesting any of my money, so I never had one.

MGL, Rios and Wells are scoring poorly on defense this season. They are being positioned shallow- does the Jays’ front office know something, or are they making a mistake?
http://www.fangraphs.com/winss.aspx?team=Blue%20Jays&pos=all&stats=fld&qual=0&type=0&season=2009&month=0

Re: 11

Some personal impressions of the Jays’ OF D.  I’ve been to all the Jays home games this year and Rios has looked especially bad; some terrible jumps and balls that are just out of his reach.  Not to mention the ball that hit him in the face. . .

Wells has lost a step, but he’s still getting great jumps.  He robbed Brian Roberts last night, though he made it look easy.  Sprinting full speed in a straight line as soon as the ball came off the bat. 

I think Rios might have an easier time tracking the ball when he’s in CF.  He looked good there last year.

"The biggest cards from the 80s were;”

You left out the biggest cards from 84 Fleer Update.  The set had Clemens, Puckett, Gooden, Strawberry, and they were all booking at around $400 in the late 80s / early 90’s.  They were by far the most expensive RC’s of those guys, and by far the most expensive cards of the decade.

In the late 90’s, the 85 Topps McGwire BLEW UP and was going for $500-1000.  The Tiffany was going for like 10x that!