Players whose cards should be a bigger deal than they seem to be

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Always are former players who leap out to me as total iconic players whose cards should be a bigger deal than they seem to be. See it in all sports. For some reason they were amazing players and cultural forces and extremely well liked but you don't see their cards rising to the forefront of anything.

Who comes to mind?

I thought of this just seeing a few minutes ago someone posted a scan of a Julius Erving card. Dr. J. was the be all and end all in his era. Style points off the charts and to me at least seemed like one of the guys who ushered in a new style of basketball. I ever met him a few times as a kid when he was on the Nets. Do his cards have a huge market? Maybe I don't follow basketball cards closely enough and I'm totally off base, but I've never seen a ton of interest in him from collectors. Maybe someone will tell me I am dead wrong. I'd think he would almost be on par with a Michael Jordan.

Jordan is the consensus best player of all time still. Erving, probably somewhere between 15 and 20. Not even close IMO.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Jordan is the consensus best player of all time still. Erving, probably somewhere between 15 and 20. Not even close IMO.

I totally take your word for it as far as talent. But culturally Dr. J was huge. Cover of national news magazines and the like. Just surprised he doesn't get more love generally.

[Jason19th]

Larry Doby and Monte Irvin were truly great players who seem to get less attentionbecause they were able to play a portion of their Careers in the majors. Both were the equals of players like Cool Papa Bell and Buck Lenard for their Negro League time and both actually had short but dramatic major league time. I think in some ways the major league time makes them lose some of the mythology that surrounds the players who never got a chance. People saw them, but only for the late prime and decline phases of their careers

Both in the Hall but you can get there early cards for almost nothing. Just picked up lower grade 1952 topps of them for about 15 dollars each

[drcy]

I'd agree that Mays cards are underrated price-wise. Though prices reflect less than "objective" things such as team.

[bnorth]

Eddie Mathews. His Rookie is a high # 1952 Topps that is also the last card of the set. Making it fairly rare compared to rookies of other HOFers from the 50's. When he retired he was considered the best 3rd baseman to ever play and is still easily top 3 or 4.

Hank Aaron cards are also cheap when he had arguably the best career of anyone to play the game.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I say it every time this comes up. Warren Spahn. Look it up.

[bounce]

Tris Speaker was pretty good, but his name is down the list of baseball greats in most conversations.

[Jason19th]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I say it every time this comes up. Warren Spahn. Look it up.

I think Spahn is an interesting case but he everything going against him for card value
1. Played in small market
2. Funny looking guy who was known as a jokester
3. Level of consistency that lulls you into thinking it’s no big deal what he is doing
4. Played on teams where he was overshadowed by others - Mathews and Aaron
5. Kept playing for so long that a lot of collectors memory of him might be as an old man losing with the giants

My favorite Warren Spahn stat - from Bill James - until 1985 Warren Spahn had more twenty win seasons as a lefty 13 the all of the New York Yankee lefties for the entire existence of the Franchise

[triwak]

Originally Posted by Jason19th

Larry Doby and Monte Irvin were truly great players who seem to get less attentionbecause they were able to play a portion of their Careers in the majors. Both were the equals of players like Cool Papa Bell and Buck Lenard for their Negro League time and both actually had short but dramatic major league time. I think in some ways the major league time makes them lose some of the mythology that surrounds the players who never got a chance. People saw them, but only for the late prime and decline phases of their careers

Both in the Hall but you can get there early cards for almost nothing. Just picked up lower grade 1952 topps of them for about 15 dollars each

+1

[Leon]

Referring to prewar cards, I am biased, and still think Cy Young it underrated in value relative to the other top tier HOF'ers. No doubt that unless the rules change back to the way they were a hundred years ago, and things completely change, he will hold the career wins record for eternity.

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by Leon

Referring to prewar cards, I am biased, and still think Cy Young it underrated in value relative to the other top tier HOF'ers. No doubt that unless the rules change back to the way they were a hundred years ago, and things completely change, he will hold the career wins record for eternity.

Wasn't he named after that award? Strange coincidence.

[nat]

I'll nominate Eddie Collins. His career was comparable to Nap Lajoie's, but Nap was flashier. Nap won batting titles and slugging titles, whereas Collins was really the quintessential dead ball player. He hit singles, drew walks, and stole bases. But in sum their careers were pretty similar. (Collins actually beats Lajoie in WAR, 124 to 107.) But Collins' cards can't keep up with Nap's.

[Peter_Spaeth]

What I always found interesting about Collins and Cobb, both of whom played not only throughout the dead ball era but also for most of the 1920s, is that their stats stayed very consistent through both eras despite the supposed major change.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I totally take your word for it as far as talent. But culturally Dr. J was huge. Cover of national news magazines and the like. Just surprised he doesn't get more love generally.

Not that huge, I don't think. The NBA wasn't that popular in the 70s when the Doctor was operating at top form. Jordan, in part due to the Nike Air Jordan campaign, in part due to the revival of the NBA starting with Bird and Magic, and in part due to his own personality, will, and incomparable talent, became a world-recognized figure.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Not that huge, I don't think. The NBA wasn't that popular in the 70s when the Doctor was operating at top form. Jordan, in part due to the Nike Air Jordan campaign, in part due to the revival of the NBA starting with Bird and Magic, and in part due to his own personality, will, and incomparable talent, became a world-recognized figure.

When Gym class was rained out one day AND the gym wasn't usable for some reason, we watched two NBA highlight films back to back. For a whole hour.
It probably wasn't, but my recollection is that 90% of it was Dr J dunking. Which was great for the first 10 minutes, but got old quick.

Part of it I think is that the style of play in the NBA has changed so much so many times it's become a "today" sort of sport as far as recognition of players from years ago.

[kevinlenane]

Jimmie Foxx - Double X may have broken Ruth's HR record had it not been for a massive dropoff in his early 30s due to personal and/or sinus problems. Had 500 HRs at age 32. Physically he was a specimen in a time when homerun hitters looked like Craig Stadler. He still put up insane numbers and his cards are super affordable given his stature as a hitter...

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by steve B

When Gym class was rained out one day AND the gym wasn't usable for some reason, we watched two NBA highlight films back to back. For a whole hour.
It probably wasn't, but my recollection is that 90% of it was Dr J dunking. Which was great for the first 10 minutes, but got old quick.

Part of it I think is that the style of play in the NBA has changed so much so many times it's become a "today" sort of sport as far as recognition of players from years ago.

If you want to see an incredible J highlight watch his final dunk in the 1976 ABA Slam Dunk contest. Mind boggling. Start at 11 24 or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmLV_TflJK0

[tschock]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

If you want to see an incredible J highlight watch his final dunk in the 1976 ABA Slam Dunk contest. Mind boggling. Start at 11 24 or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmLV_TflJK0

Peter,

Not only the dunks were mind boggling. I was at this game with my dad and a couple of friends and saw it live. Did that just happen? Luckily we were able to see the replays in the suites behind us to confirm we all didn't imagine the same thing.

https://www.nba.com/top-nba-finals-m...-game-4-finals

[orly57]

Ted Williams is certainly not underrated as a player, but his cards are all affordable. I think his rookie card is criminally undervalued.