Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth
Yep a cautionary tale. All these kids look great on paper and in Baseball America and in the Midwest League or whatever. But the reality is only 1-3 a year are going to be HOF type players when all is said and done.
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The funny thing about the junk era is that a lot of players absolutely became legends...and their rookie cards are worth little.
How about this lineup (let's leave aside the players involved in steroid accusations)
Randy Johnson- Best LHP of All-Time 89 RC $1 (I've bought at 25c at shows)
Craig Biggio- 3000 hits, 20 years with one team 88 XRC $5
Roberto Alomar- .300 lifetime, 12x All-Star, 10x Gold Glove...88 RC .50-$1
Mike Mussina- 83.8 WAR, 268 Wins, 5x All-Star...91 RC .50-$1
Pedro Martinez- 84 WAR, one of the most dominant pitchers in history 91 RC $1
John Smoltz- Outstanding starter/closer, RC 50c/$1
Greg Maddux- Along with Clemens and Johnson the premier pitcher of the era, 87 RC $1
Barry Larkin- HOF shortstop, entire career with Reds, 12x All-star, 87 Rookies 50c.
If you had 100 of each of those rookie cards in 1991 and I told you from the future that each of these guys would be legendary Hall-of-Famers you would think this group would be worth a luxury car...nope, you can get 1 copy of each for under $10 without a lot of work.
This leaves aside the guys like Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa, Sheffield who were tainted by the steroid scandal and guys like Baines and Raines who are considered more marginal Hall-of-Famers.