Monday, February 26, 2007

Record Price for Honus Wagner Card

The T206 Honus Wagner, once owned by Wayne Gretzky, sells for $2,350,000.00.

Story Link: ESPN:

Hat Tip: VBCF:

UPDATE: I thought I would add that this particular card happens to be surrounded by controversy. It is, in fact, a machine (hand) cut/ trimmed card and many vintage collectors would never touch it. On the other hand, not only is the card itself scarce, but the lineage of ownership and its historical popularity in the card market will probably trump any notion that it did not come directly from a tobacco pack. Check out this forum for background.

If I'm not mistaken, a uncut sheet was found in a Florida flea market and purchased by a collector. It was subsequently sold to a major dealer who decided to cut up the sheet into individual cards. That dealer sold it to another dealer who trimmed it even more. (Keep in mind it is still within the acceptable size for T206 cards.) From there I believe it was sold to Wayne Gretzky/ Bruce McNall (former owner of the Los Angeles Kings). The card was then sold as a result of McNall's legal problems. Sometime after that it ended up in a Walmart promotion. It was sold by the Walmart winner at auction and has changed hands a couple of times since.

2007 HOF Veterans Committee Candidates

Tomorrow the Veterans Committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame will announce their inductees into the Hall. Check out this link for background information.

Five former Dodger players and executives were represented on this ballot. The players include Gil Hodges, Don Newcombe and Maury Wills. Executives Buzzie Bavasi and Walter O'Malley are the other potential inductees. (Click the players name for their biographies at the HOF website.)

Gil Hodges may finally get his due. He just missed getting in by 8 votes during the last election in 2005. Don Newcombe has always fallen a well short in voting, but is certainly worthy of consideration. When I think of Maury Wills I always ask, "could the Dodgers have won any championships in the 60's without him? Even with Koufax and Drysdale."

My prediction: Gil Hodges, Ron Santo, Walter O'Malley and Bill White get elected. Maury Wills inches closer and closer to eventual induction.

HOF Link:

Update: Veterans Committee throws a goose egg. No one receives enough votes for induction. Ron Santo misses by five votes, improving on his 2005 vote totals by 5 votes. Gil Hodges goes down by 2 votes, receiving 50 votes. Maury Wills receives 33 votes - a 7 vote improvement. Walter O'Malley and Buzzie Bavasi receive 36 and 30 votes, respectively.

HOF VC Results Link:

Commercial Flashback: Tommy and his Sega Genesis

This past weekend I picked up a Nintendo Wii. So I spent the weekend glued to the tv enjoying the various sports games. In doing so I started to reminisce about the video games consoles of old. My favorite all time game was Sega's Tommy Lasorda's Baseball. So please enjoy Tommy and his Genesis.



YouTube Link: Grooveraider: