First under appreciated player that pops into your head

[Republicaninmass]

Ed Yost, averaged less than 50 strikeouts a season, averaged over 120 walks

[Carter08]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Ed Yost, averaged less than 50 strikeouts a season, averaged over 120 walks

Just looked up his stats and have to agree with Yost. Guy got on base. Tommy Leach also possibly underrated.

[FrankWakefield]

Agreeing with a couple of those recent posts...

I agree about Gehringer. A great fielder and hitter. A ballplayer.

Dick Groat. He was a super, letter in everything, athlete at Duke. He was smart. He was a smooth fielder, I saw him in St. Louis. Even though I was just a kid, I could see how he handled the bat differently, he would watch infielders moving while he was hitting with a runner on base, he'd slap a baseball through a vacated position with eerie precision. He has to be among the underrated, because he's about forgotten. I can still envision his smile, and as I recall he'd have a batting helmet jammed over his ball cap... could that be right?

[67airborne]

Harry Heilmann

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by 67airborne

Harry Heilmann

Great pick. Heilmann definitely wasn't overlooked by his contemporaries, thankfully. I was incredibly fortunate to know several of his teammates and opponents; all spoke highly of his caliber of play and personal character.

Heck, even his autograph is overlooked and undervalued. There isn't very much signed material out there, and most of what survives isn't really aesthetically appealing. Lots of small cuts removed from album pages, or multi/team signed pages. It's really difficult to secure something nice on Heilmann; such items should be worth much more than they are. Similar HOFers from his era who died young in the same decade are common by comparison. The closest in comparison from standpoints of dying young in the 50's, rarity and finding a signed piece of any quality may be Arky Vaughan, but much more survived in the way of poor quality cuts. And of course, Heilmann was the better player of the two.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Great pick. Heilmann definitely wasn't overlooked by his contemporaries, thankfully. I was incredibly fortunate to know several of his teammates and opponents; all spoke highly of his caliber of play and personal character.

Heck, even his autograph is overlooked and undervalued. There isn't very much signed material out there, and most of what survives isn't really aesthetically appealing. Lots of small cuts removed from album pages, or multi/team signed pages. It's really difficult to secure something nice on Heilmann; such items should be worth much more than they are. Similar HOFers from his era who died young in the same decade are common by comparison. The closest in comparison from standpoints of dying young in the 50's, rarity and finding a signed piece of any quality may be Arky Vaughan, but much more survived in the way of poor quality cuts. And of course, Heilmann was the better player of the two.

I would disagree with that. I would take an OPS+ 136 shortstop who was good defensively over an OPS+ 148 outfielder who was not good defensively.

I don't understand all of the Hall of Famers in this thread. The only Hall of Famers that I would say are underrated are Johnny Mize, Arky Vaughan and Eddie Plank. 3 guys who were overlooked by the writers and had to wait too long for election. I am seeing a lot of names of players whose baseball cards are undervalued, but definitely not their careers.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

I'm definitely just judging by the way their contemporaries whom I knew spoke (or didn't speak) of them. When I visited all these players many years ago, I would tend to listen more than talk, letting them discuss whatever and whoever they wished for as long as they wished. I never wanted to interrupt the conversational flow. Heilmann was a man the older players would bring up on their own, and his talent was universally recollected with a great deal of respect. Vaughan was from the next generation down, and I got to know even more players from this era, including a significant number of his teammates. His name was barely mentioned, so perhaps he was overlooked by his own colleagues as well.

I certainly agree with your other point that there are a great deal of HOFers mentioned in this thread. Musial, Frank Robinson and Spahn have been brought up a lot. These guys were considered among the elite by those who saw them play. I'm not sure why anyone considers them overlooked based on their caliber of play. I'd agree on your assessment that this pertains more to card values.