Quote:
Originally Posted by Rad_Hazard
I think that Mays underappreciation in contrast to Mantle over the years has finally corrected to an extent over the last few years.
I'm listening to the James S. Hirsch Willie Mays book and it is excellent! It's definitely given me a new respect for the Say Hey Kid.
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It definitely pissed me off to no end that Mays was historically always at a serious discount to Mantle. Particularly because (in my view) Mays was superior in every way to Mantle. Not looking to start a raging debate with the Mantle fanboys - just stating my personal (biased) baseball opinion. (!!!!!)
Of course, now that the price gap has shrunk, it pisses me off that I have to pay near-Mantle prices to get my Mays items!
Obviously the issue has always been the fact that Mantle is more popular than Mays, and Mantle collectors have always been willing to spend A LOT MORE than us Mays guys.
In some ways, it has almost taken on a life of its own. If you ask the average person on the street, probably the only two baseball cards that they've ever heard of are the 52T Mantle and the T206 Wagner. Those cards have entered a realm all their own in the popular consciousness.
It also reminds me a bit about how the Mona Lisa became famous - as much as it pains me as an Italian to admit it, in some ways she was the original Kardashian. You can read about it here:
https://www.history.com/news/the-hei...na-lisa-famous
So over time, I've come to peace with the idea that Mays has a discount to Mantle. Not because Mantle was a better player. But because Mantle is more popular. And I'm okay with that, particularly if it means that I don't have to spend as much to get really nice Mays pieces. And I would really appreciate it if we could go back to a bigger gap between Mantle and Mays, so please stop bidding up all of his pieces! Thanks...