Michael Hirsley, Chicago Trib on Wagner card fizzle

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Posted By: <b>Michael Passalacqua</b><p><b>CHICAGO TRIBUNE</b><br /><br /><b>Big payday may not be in cards<br />Authenticity issues impede owners' ability to auction very rare Honus Wagner artifact, writes Michael Hirsley</b><br /><br /><i>Michael Hirsley<br />Published August 16, 2006</i><br /><br />If a baseball card owned by John Cobb and Ray Edwards is truly worth the paper it's printed on, that could be $750,000 or more.<br /><br />So says one expert appraiser of sports memorabilia.<br /><br />Full article here:<br /><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-0608160210aug16,1,1477128.story" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-0608160210aug16,1,1477128.story</a><br><br>How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there's no help in the truth.<br />-- Sophocles

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Posted By: <b>steve f</b><p>Of course you'll need to read the complete article but this line kills me, "If these two guys were white, we wouldn't be having this problem," Connelly said. (in reference to the theft)<br />

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>If there is one thing Johnnie Cochran taught the country is that when your back is against the wall, play the race card. Besides, if you were thinking of placing a bid on the card, how would you know the race of the consignors? You wouldn't.

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Just read the article and saw that Bob Connelly was referred to as a sports memorabilia expert. Anyone on this board feels that he is an expert? And he wants to get the card retested, but not by a company that authenticates baseball cards. I hope that in the end all these guys get what they deserve. That all these newspapers are picking up the story and wasting valuable column space on it is ludicrous enough.

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Posted By: <b>Joann</b><p>HEY! There's been a Schwed sighting!! Wow. He must truly be lying. If we accept that the card is skinned and rebacked w/a Piedmont back, then I can understand the paper guy maybe getting fibers from the reverse and concluding the paper was old.<br /><br />But a powerful microscope? And he could only look at the back? Because he either has no competence to identify modern printing, was not able to see that the methods of printing on the front and back are completely different from one another, or negligently made his eval based on looking at the back only. Which?<br /><br />Either that, or it's real. KIDDING.<br /><br />Joann

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Posted By: <b>jay behrens</b><p>I love how they site him as a sports memorailia expert in one paragraph. Then in another paragraph say that he is not an authenticator of sports memorabilia? Seems to me that you can't be an expert without being able to authenticate the material.<br /><br />Jay<br><br>A good friend will come bail you out of jail. A true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn, that was fun."

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Posted By: <b>Jack Fitz</b><p>Connelly's website says he's certified by two appraisal organizations. Here are the credentials they show for him.<br /><br /><br /><b>APPRAISERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA</b><br /><br />Name: Robert J. Connelly AAA <br />Business Name: Bob & Sallie Connelly Antiques-Auctions-Appraisals <br />Website: www.bobconnelly.com <br />Address: 205 State Street<br />Binghamton, NY 13901-2711<br />USA <br />Tel: 607-722-9593 <br />Fax: 607-722-1266 <br />Email Address: bob@bobconnelly.com <br />Specializations: <u>Furniture & Decorative Arts: General; Personal Property: General;</u> Clocks & Watches: General; Collectibles: General; Folk Art: General <br />· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · <br />*The designation of AAA next to a member's name denotes that the member has passed all required examinations and is certified in those specific categories that are <u>underlined</u> in their directory listing.<br /><br /><br /><b>AMERICAN SOCIETY OF APPRAISERS</b><br /><br />Robert J. Connelly, ASA <br />Accredited Senior Appraiser <br />Bob & Sallie Connelly <br />666 Chenango St<br />Binghamton, NY 13901-2015<br />Phone: (607) 722-9593 <br />Email: bob@bobconnelly.com <br />Fax: (607) 722-1266 <br />Web address: www.bobconnelly.com <br />-----------------------------------------------------------<br />Discipline: Personal Property <br />Specialty: Antiques & Decorative Arts <br />Specialty: Residential Contents - General <br />-----------------------------------------------------------<br />Degree(s): AA <br />Other Designations: AAA, FRICS, CRA, NAPA <br />Chapter: Hudson Valley, New York <br />Member Status: Active

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>I'm sure Mr. Connelly possesses many authenticating skills. Unfortunately, T206's isn't one of them.

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Posted By: <b>Bruce Babcock</b><p>I love how the people who tipped off ebay are labeled "skeptics." And how Connelly still isn't convinced.<br /><br />Even if you ignore the obvious, that the card is a fake, what are the odds that, with 500+ cards in the set, plus numerous back variations, times millions of cards printed, the only real T206 of any kind ever seen without the black border and with different printing fonts would be Honus and not Heinie?<br /><br />I was once asked to be a second expert witness in a plagiarism trial involving a Pepsi jingle written in the 70s by a well known and successful composer. I listened to both pieces. I looked at the material, prepared by Expert #1, which included a musical analysis of the jingle and of the piece which the plaintiff claimed had been ripped off.<br /><br />The plaintiff was a banana. And so was his "expert." He had a reputation for being a couple of beers short of a six-pack. <br /><br />The only thing the two pieces had in common was that they both used the twelve notes of the chromatic scale which provide the foundation for the last 600 years of western music. Tantamount to saying that both this post and the novels of John Steinbeck were both written in English, and are therefore equivalent. It was laughable to the same degree as this Wagner debacle. Plus there was no way that the real composer could have ever come in contact with the plaintiff's music. <br /><br />These bozos couldn't understand why I didn't want to participate.

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Posted By: <b>Chad</b><p>That is, both the article and the HBO special left room for doubt that the card is real. That's some good journalism there fellas! The story wasn't these two Davids fighting against the Goliath memorabilia industry, the real story was about fraud in sports collectibles and the lengths people will go to get something for nothing. God help me for saying this, but Geraldo would have exposed these hucksters for what they are. Sometimes a "news" article that bends over to show both sides is the worst kind of journalism. If one side is the truth, and the other side is an obvious lie, then what's the point of a balanced story? It only lends credence to the lie at the truth's expense. Again, bad bad bad bad journalism on this. And these two guys are one step closer to cashing in.<br /><br />--Chad

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>I agree with Chad 100%. This is not a two-sided story, it only has one side and is not subject to rational debate.

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Posted By: <b>Anonymous</b><p>not to mention that HBO completely missed the mark with their lame explanation of why a T206 Wagner is considered so valuable and desirable.

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Posted By: <b>Gilbert Maines</b><p>Is the purpose of journalism to bring out the truth or to achieve the highest cumulative ratings attainable? I think the latter. Therefore you never prove the fake, you just get mileage out of it. Now thats good journalism.