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Originally Posted by Snapolit1
No backlash here. I hear you and loud and clear. I have one Graham piece and it's very cool, but his fame is a fictional character and not as an actual ballplayer.
Personally I would not spend thousands on a Graham item. But I get the allure also.
QUOTE=BillyCoxDodgers3B;2314315]I've said it before, and it's always met with some backlash...
The huge interest, and especially the high values of anything related to Graham, will never fail to confound me.
People who are so enamored of him do realize that they're just buying into a half-fictional character as created by Kinsella and portrayed so wonderfully by (mostly) Burt Lancaster, right? Values of our collectibles are usually based on achievements or legends that actually transpired or may have happened. There's some basis in reality. The Moonlight Graham stuff that people so eagerly eat up simply sprang from the mind of an author of fiction. Beyond the fact Graham played in the Majors and was a doctor in Chisholm, MN, the rest is all Kinsella. The factual part of Graham's story is pretty typical and ho-hum. Yes, he was a kindly doctor and was remembered fondly by generations of children, but this wouldn't have affected collectability or value without Kinsella's intervention.
If Kinsella had thumbed through his MacMillan Encyclopedia and instead decided to craft a story around Kewpie Pennington, another Deadball Era guy who played in one game, none of the Graham diehards would have a clue who he was and his memorabilia would be of much more limited interest and value. Pennington had a cool nickname and only pitched one MLB inning with zero strikeouts. There's your story! "If only I could have struck one player out!". Same basic concept of a dream not realized, but now everyone is infatuated with the fictional legend of Kewpie Pennington!
I know, I know...but it was Moonlight Graham who Kinsella selected.
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[/QUOTE]Well articulated and duly noted. But, for me, part of the fun of collecting is being able to show some of my cards to non-collectors, and Moonlight would be a great one to show.
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