The Willie Mays price boom

[Frankish]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Many think he is not only the greatest living player, but the greatest player period. For example, the Athletic (Behind a paywall), has Willie Mays #1 and Babe Ruth #2

Buster Olney (ESPN analyst) has said Willie Mays is the greatest player ever as well.

It's interesting. I've always liked Mays better than Mantle and think he was the better all-around player (although I do find some arguments to the contrary have merit). But it's never been a surprise that Mantle was the more popular player and that his cards ended up being worth more.

1. Yankees
2. All-American Aw-Shucks WHITE player
3. World Series Titles 7 to Mays' 1 (see Yankees) and playoff HRs 18 to Mays' 1
4. The 1961 HR race
5. Yankees

No matter how great an athlete Mays was, how superior a defensive player and base stealer, how close (or some would argue superior) a hitter, he just can't over come the 1 ring, 1 playoff HR, note being a Yankee.

And Ruth was in a league of his own. My personal opinion/analysis is that Athletic and Olney are way off. Yankees mystique aside, you have a guy hitting more HRs one season than any other TEAM in baseball. I'm not a slave to WAR but think it really supports Ruth as the GOAT. But that's for another thread....

I agree Mays is probably a good buy relative to the other top players. It's nice to see his cards and those of some other great players really make a good run up in value, and I expect he has some distance het to go. He certainly deserves more credit, whether or not that is ever perfectly reflected in card prices (at least relative to Mantle RC and Ruth cards).