Moonlight Graham pc on ebay

[Matt]

Originally Posted by JBirkholm

...It bothers me how much Graham's memorabilia fetches just because an author plucked him out of the 15,000+ players who have made the big time.
(Yes, we`ve debated this one before. I realize all of the Moonlight devotees have passionate reasons for craving this sort of material, but I`ll never understand why!)

If I may try:
Why does a T206 Ty Cobb carry more value then a Ed Abbaticchio? The old cardboard is worthless and the Abbaticchio is probably rarer. The fact that a player batted .400 or stole 20 bases doesn't inherantly make a cardboard likeness of them have value. Value is there because holding Cobb's image on a piece from his playing days connects you to all the stories that surround his career. The same is true with Archie "Moonlight" Graham. Only, his particular story took 80 years to become known. So long as the stories live on, the pieces have value.

Taking it a step further, would you suggest that Star Wars or Indiana Jones movie memorabilia is worthless because those items aren't even connected with anything that actually took place? Once again, it is the stories that are associated, which cause these items to have value.

With Archibald "Moonlight" Graham's story, as portrayed in Field of Dreams, you have the dramatic and inspiring story of someone who came so close to their adolescent dream only to see it disappear and then by some miracle be given a second chance 80 years later.

"Fifty years ago, for five minutes you came within... you came this close. It would kill some men to get so close to their dream and not touch it. God, they'd consider it a tragedy."

Only, the story was about a real player and this postcard is one of only a handful of artifacts with Moonlight Graham on it that still exist 100 years later. It carries with it that moving drama and therefore, quite a bit of value.

Now back to your easy listening station.