Quote:
Originally Posted by tyweb1
I won a 1965 OPC Ron Santo PSA 10. I think I overpaid for it but I am happy to get it.
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I think that's a great pickup! Canada had what, one tenth the population of the US at that time, with OPC cards presumably produced in proportionately smaller quantities than Topps? That has to be an extremely tough card in ultra-high grade, and likely always will be.
Plus, I think its truly ridiculous that Ron Santo is not in the Hall of Fame--easily one of the best third basemen of all time: Bill James ranks him 6th best of all time in his 2001 Historical Baseball Abstract; 342 career HR's; 1331 RBI's; .277 BA; 9-time all-star; drove in 94 or more runs (over 100 4X, with a high of 123 in 1969) eight straight years; 5 gold gloves. Per James, "Santo was not only a better hitter than [George] Kell, he was also a better hitter than Jimmy Collins, Pie Traynor, Fred Lindstrom and Brooks Robinson...By my reckoning, George Kell was the 30th best third baseman of all time; he is in the Hall of Fame. Fred Lindstrom was the 43rd best third baseman of all time; he is in the Hall of Fame...The reality is, Willie Mays never was and never can be the standard of the Hall of Fame."
Larry
PS: Just checked the PSA pop reports: PSA has graded a total of 2,533 '65 OPC's, as compared to 137,283 '65 Topps. There have been just 20 '65 OPC Santo's graded, including just three "8's," zero "9's," and that one lone "10." In comparison, PSA has graded 293 Santo's, including 123 "8's," 31 "9's," and one "10." While nobody is going to think PSA's pop report is anywhere near all inclusive, it's a pretty fair conclusion that a high grade '65 OPC Santo is and will continue to be one extremely tough card!