Cardboard Wars - Paul Molitor

Here you have what in my opinion is one of the best sets of the 90’s, 1997 Bowman’s Best. The card is a Paul Molitor certified autograph that was probably about as difficult to pull in the 90’s as a “1 of 1″ is today. In the 10+ years since Bowman’s Best was released, how many of you have seen any of their autographs in person? Me? I have not seen a single one except on eBay (Jeter, Cruz Jr., and Molitor). These babies are somewhat are tough to find and the autograph is on-card.

The second card is from the auto/game-used era and is from 2005 Prime Cuts. It features an autograph and a game-used jersey with a stripe, plus it’s numbered 7 out of 10. These are one of those cards that would be too scarce to price in Beckett but trust me, it’s a special card. Sure it’s a sticker and the jersey is somewhat small but it is special.

So what’s it gonna be?!?

A tribute to Jim Abbott

One day, just a few years ago, I found myself sitting on a bench during one of my baseball games in a semi-pro league in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. It was just the second game of the season and already I was designated to sitting on the bench, waiting for my turn to bat. It was then that I began making excuses for myself after finally realizing I would never play professionally.

“I am too short, not strong enough, started playing too late”. Those were just a few of the excuses I made.  A few innings later I was brought in for an at-bat, popped out, and was thrown in to Right Field. Just ten  minutes later my rotator cuff failed me during outfield toss. It was the last time I ever played baseball.

The truth is, I had absolutely no excuses. Simply put, I didn’t have the desire others had. For God sakes, Jim Abbott, a former pitcher and stand-out college ball player found success despite being born without his entire right hand. Jim Abbott was a great baseball player who made no excuses despite probably having to deal with more than anyone in his position could ever imagine.

At just 21 years of age, Abbott made it to the Big Leagues for the California Angels and won 12 games. He reached double digits in wins four times in the next seven years including 18 wins in 1991. By 1993, the Angels dispatched Abbott to the New York Yankees and he answered the call by pitching a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians. It would be Abbott’s defining moment in the Majors.

In the next five seasons, Abbott reached double digits in wins just once and in 1998 led the league in losses (18), while giving up 7.18 runs per game. Clearly, his best days were behind him and by next season, at just 31 years of age, Jim Abbott walked away from the game.

Jim threw out the first pitch for a game in mid-2008. You can see a recent photo by clicking HERE. As far as the two autographs in the image below, both are currently on eBay, selling for under $30 dollars a piece. In fact, there are many certified autographs and game-used cards of Abbott selling for mighty cheap for those looking for a new player collection.

Cardboard Wars - Nolan Ryan

In one corner you have a low-numbered autograph/game-used patch from 2008 U.D Masterpieces. While Masterpieces is not even close to being a high-end product, the Ryan patch/auto #’d to just 10 is one of the best cards in the set.

In the other corner you have a “1 of 1″, autographed card with a large chunk of a game-used jersey, brought to you by 2008 Topps Triple Threads. It is that “White Whale” that everyone speaks of but I am not entirely sure I am feeling the color of the card or that sticker autograph shinning through the scan.

So, what’s it gonna be???

The Man Who Sued the World

In 1994, Adrian Gluck, a former employee of Upper Deck, filed two patents with regards to the design of baseball cards with a piece of memorabilia stuck on the card. It took the patents office 4 years to approve Gluck’s idea and by that time, “game-used” jerseys had hit the market with a bang.

In the year 2000, Gluck sued every single card company in business, including Upper Deck, Topps, Donruss, Pacific, and many more. You can read one of the appeals by clicking HERE. One defense against the lawsuit was a little known trading card company called Sports Time, who in 1993 released cards of Marilyn Monroe with pieces of diamonds embedded into the cards well before Gluck filed for the patent. You can find a few unopened boxes of Sports Time on eBay and an example of one of the cards HERE.

Recently, a judge ruled the patent Gluck received was invalid. Gluck plans on filing an appeal, which could waste another two years but in the meantime, it appears one of the longest legal battles in trading cards history is nearing the final stage.

Peel that sticker autograph!

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME

Recently, a collector purchased an Upper Deck Stan Musial “1 of 1″ from eBay. Upon further review, the collector found himself disappointed that the sticker autograph was crooked and cut badly. What this brave collector did next probably took more balls than most of us could afford: he peeled off the sticker and sent it in to Mr. Musial to sign.

Can you imagine what could have gone wrong? Not only is this a “1 of 1″, he also used an X-Acto knife to peel the old sticker off the card and word around the hobby is that Mr. Musial is gravely ill, which means that when he does pass away, there will be a huge boost in his related memorabilia, especially his autograph.

As for the sticker that he peeled off, the collector simply placed it on a base Stan Musial card. If there was an award for collector of the month, ‘Wideright‘ would be the hands down winner for October.

Introducing ‘Cardboard Wars’

This is a new feature to Wax Heaven which will be posted every day at Midnight. The concept is simple. I will post two cards from the same year and of the same player. They will go up against each other, you choose which one you’d rather pull from a pack and why.

Today we feature Cy Young contender and pitcher I’d be collecting if Andrew Miller wasn’t on the Marlins, Tim “The Freak” Lincecum. You have to choose between a low-end product with an autograph or a high-end product with an extremely low serial number and an impressive patch.

1.‘08 U.D Heroes - Tim Lincecum autograph & game-used jersey

2. ‘08 U.D Premier - Tim Lincecum low-numbered game-used patch

What’s it gonna be???

Dice-K living up to the hype

I’ll be the first to admit, after Daisuke Matsuzaka’s 2007 season I was somewhat unimpressed with his numbers. Sure, he did manage to win 15 games but with a line-up as stacked as the ‘07 Red Sox had, I am sure even Red Donahue, who lost 35 games in 1897 (link) would have looked like the second coming of Walter Johnson.

By the beginning of the 2008 season I was ready to start calling “Dice-K” Hideki Irabu 2.0 and then out of the blue, the 27-year old Japanese pitcher became the next Roger Clemens for Boston, sans the love affair with teen country singers and the penchant for throwing broken baseball bats at guys with handlebar mustaches.

This season, Dice-K won 18 games and lowered his ERA from 4.40 in ‘07 to an impressive 2.90 this season. Those numbers, mixed in with Josh Beckett’s troubles versus the Los Angeles Angels, has earned Dice-K the starting spot versus the Tampa Bay Rays in game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

As far as those unwarranted comparisons to the “Fat Toad”, Hideki Irabu… in just two seasons played, Dice-K is one win behind Irabu’s career total of 34, which took him six seasons to reach. I’d say this will be the very last time anyone calls this pitcher a bust again.

This will be the first playoff series I am going to be watching. As a Tim Wakefield fan, my heart is invested in Boston but I don’t know how they are going to silence the bat of Evan Longoria and company!