Under appreciated Hall of Famers

[darwinbulldog]

Mays has always seemed underrated if you're comparing his card prices to Mantle's, but not if you compare him to the other great players of the 50s and 60s, so it's not Mays whose prices were "wrong" all this time. It was just Mantle.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

Mays has always seemed underrated if you're comparing his card prices to Mantle's, but not if you compare him to the other great players of the 50s and 60s, so it's not Mays whose prices were "wrong" all this time. It was just Mantle.

That’s a good point…maybe Mantle is the outlier, not the “underrated” guys. Other than Mantle and maybe Ruth, who are the underrated compared to?

[sreader3]

Recent risers …

Clemente, Jackie, Lajoie

Future risers …

F. Robby, Morgan

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

A related concept is a HOF'er who has NEVER been appreciated. Monte Irvin cards were immediately passed in the hobby by Minnie Minoso as soon as he was elected to the hall. Irvin is about the only early black MLB HOF'er whose prices didn't move with the spike most of those players saw after Aaron died.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

A related concept is a HOF'er who has NEVER been appreciated. Monte Irvin cards were immediately passed in the hobby by Minnie Minoso as soon as he was elected to the hall. Irvin is about the only early black MLB HOF'er whose prices didn't move with the spike most of those players saw after Aaron died.

Would like to see Irvin get some love from collectors. Maybe after Mays' HBO documentary comes out.

There was a nice write-up about Irvin after he passed in 2016.

As it points out, Irvin was 30 by the time he finally got a chance to play in the Majors in '49, after a great career in the Negro Leagues. Unfortunately, after a strong year for the Giants in '51 when he lead the league in RBIs and finished 3rd in MVP, he fractured his ankle sliding into 2nd, causing him to miss most of the '52 season and hindering his MLB career.

He was a mentor to Willie Mays, and along with Hank Thompson, formed the first all black outfield. RMY had an amazing picture of them in their most recent auction.

[michael3322]

My 2-cents: For the legends - Ruth, Gehrig, Mays, Cobb, Mantle, Jackie, etc. their value mainly increases since awareness of their exploits continues from generation to generation.

For others, it takes a story/movie to bring them into the consciousness of current collectors. I haven't tracked it, but I wonder if the 2018 movie about Moe Berg led to an increase in the value of his cards.

Some HoF-ers just don't have the appeal of others. Consider Al Kaline, who according to recent eBay sales, has autos that go for <$10. So for some they might be over-exposed among current cards, and therefore their allure suffers from a lack of overall card rarity (even if their playing-day cards have a relatively low pop or are in a desirable set).

Just being in the HoF is no longer what it once was. Consider that Tris Speaker (#9 in career overall WAR) was not a first-ballot HoF-er, or that it took Eddie Collins 4 votes to be inducted. The recent induction of Harold Baines seems to have dropped the standard quite a bit.

But many of the players mentioned in this thread are legends, under appreciated by the overall market as they may be. Clearly they are not under appreciated here on Net54!

[SAllen2556]

I think Hank Greenberg might fit the bill. His '34 Goudey card has soared in recent years. After the Gehrig cards, his card is the next most expensive card in that set. It didn't used to be.

And the nice thing is, he deserves it. He was a good guy and a genuine hero in so many ways.