[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

Great player for sure and certainly in the same category as some of the greats of the game but was not really superior as a ballplayer than Al Kaline, George Brett, Wade Boggs, Yaz, etc., etc. which are all IMO on the second tier of "All-Time Great" status. That being said Jackie Robinson is also not on tier one as a ballplayer.

Jackie and Roberto Clemente both transcend the sport they played in their own ways. For Jackie Robinson the reason is obvious, Clemente was perhaps the first truly great Latin American superstar at the Major League level and his star has continually risen over the past few decades. Back in the day when I first began collecting Clemente's cards were priced more along the lines of Kaline, Duke Snider, Eddie Mathews, Ernie Banks, and that group of players... below the level of Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial and obviously Mickey Mantle. There has certainly been a shift in the "power rankings" of players over the years.

On the flip-side of players like Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente & the Yankee Stars (Mantle, Jeter, DiMaggio, Maris, etc) are some great players that have great statistics and barely sell for more than the most common of Hall Of Famers. All these players mentioned in this paragraph tend to sell as collectibles for more than their statistical peers. It is all about demand.

I beg to differ on Jackie. He had a 10 year career that only started when he was 28. In 10 years he put up a 61 WAR. Even with the late start he put up the 15th greatest 5 Year WAR in history 42.2. For traditionalists he won ROY and MVP a Batting Title had a career OBP over .400 and put up an .883 OPS career at Second Base. His MLB career basically started at the end of his prime. I think he should be recognized as tier one. For my money he's the second greatest 2b of all time. That's pretty first tier to me.