Monthly Archives: August 2013

NY Yankee Brien Taylor

The NY Mets dominated the baseball world in New York City with a kid named Dwight Gooden in the mid-late 1980’s. The New York Yankees and then owner George Steinbrenner were never second fiddle to any cross-town sports team ever! But how to draw against Doctor K? This was not just something that could be easily overcome. As a sports card collector sometimes there is a moment where you have to take a gamble on a baseball card rookie and collect every card imaginable even if that card/rookie belongs to the dreaded Yankees. That was me in the early 1990’s when talk of Brien Taylor came about. I knew that George had deeper pockets then anyone in baseball at the time, but I just could not believe the rampant hype about another pitcher taking away some of the glory from Gooden in NY. Even though Gooden was no longer the center focal point of the Mets pitching staff by the time 1988 and the loss to the L.A. Dodgers came during the National League Championships. However, as a sports card collector you do not ever want to miss the boat on a star rookie. After all, since then, I have missed so many boats, dingy’s, cruise ships, you name it I missed it. This is why today I have more Brien Taylor cards than most to make soup with.

Shoulder Injury From Hell For Yankee Fans!

In case you do not know the history of how this phenom who went from a 1.55 million signing bonus (largest ever at the time) to what turned out to be the end of what could have been a glorious pitching career. In an effort to defend his brother from another person that had already beat his brother up, he attempted to stand up for his brother and endured one of the worst shoulder injuries that Dr. Frank Jobe had ever seen. Dr. Frank Jobe repaired a torn capsule and a torn labrum in Taylor’s shoulder, but the pitcher lost 6-8 miles off his fastball and was unable to land the curve ball for a strike. Since then, he has been arrested two different times. Once for misdemeanor child abuse/child neglect in 2005 and then in March 2012, Taylor was charged with cocaine trafficking after undercover narcotics agents purchased a large quantity of cocaine and crack cocaine from him over a period of several months. He received a 38 month prison sentence, and then he will get three years’ supervised release.

Collecting sports cards teaches us that these players are human and sometimes all the talent in the world, cannot help overcome poor decisions and tough breaks. As a sports fan I think back on when I heard the news that he was arrested a second time and I could not help but feel bad for him. He was only the second NY Yankee 1st round overall pick since 1965. As an older sports card collector, I treasure his cards just as much today. Not because of the value of the cards or a lack there of, but because of the history behind the cards and the man. One man’s claim to fame, and what could have been. Keep collecting sports cards there is history and knowledge on that little piece of cardboard paper.

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Topps Heritage New Age “Enhancement” Performers

jmaris21 MLB, Nolan Ryan, Ryan Braun, Tom Seaver

12 MLB Players Accept Their Punishment!

So I am awaiting the next shock-wave sent by Major League Baseball for the suspension of it’s players for the use of performance enhancing drugs. Just like everyone else, I began to go through some of the closet space and filled rooms I have with sports cards along with the many boxes of Beckett graded cards that I own, and I am trying to remember how many Alex Rodriguez 1994 SP graded cards I own. I know that they will be bonfire for my next cook-out! As I am going through these graded cards, I also find many Mark McGwire 1985 Topps rookie cards which also are graded and a few Fleer Tiffany Barry Bonds rookie cards as well. That is when it hit me, like a ton of bricks!!! What a farce my collection is.

Why Ryan Braun, Why???

True enough, we all know that this cheating which has been excessive and highly publicized since the 1990’s has hurt the game back then and continues to do so, in addition to the marred stats of MLB, but have we really sat down and noticed how this also has destroyed our dear sports card collections. I am telling you right now, my collection and I have been in denial mode, naive I know. We just refuse to believe that all those years chasing perfect cards to send to Beckett grading, and all those countless shows the walking, wheeling and dealing for this card and that one, it just cannot be. Our collections cannot be so deflating to us now! I want to personally thank A-Rod, Barry, Mark, and now Braun.

So I am scouring my collection trying to find something I love in my graded card sets, that can take some of the sting off those I mentioned above, and I have them. Just like you do in your collection. My 1969 Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Mickey Mantle. But did we ever collect these cards and think that this day would come? How about the countless people that are holding 20, 30, even 100 graded 1994 SP Alex Rodriguez cards? A card that I might add was fetching $10,000 for a gem mint copy. I can remember even more. I guess those people hung their hats on the belief that the home-run record was as easy as a bag of shells, like Jackie Gleason used to say. I can’t even imagine the pain.

While going through my collection, I stumbled across a couple of boxes of inserts. The Topps Heritage New Age Performers. Remember those beauty’s? Anyway, I took the liberty of scanning mine, and giving them the proper heading (see picture above). If only Topps knew back then what they now know. This set for sure would have been called “Topps Heritage New Age Enhancement Performers”. Anyway, there has to be a silver lining in these collections that we all have. I believe in my collection, and I know you believe in yours, the sacrifices made to have them. So stories will be told, and maybe just maybe their value will be in some other form of conversation in your home, even if you use yours as coasters, like I will use mine. Below is a list of the latest 12 suspended today without appeal. Keep collecting those rookie baseball cards, just dump them as soon as the players begin to look like the Hulk and can hit 90 home-runs a year!!!

Here are the players confirmed by FoxSports.com which are said to have agreed to the suspensions without the right to an appeal so sad, they are:

• Nelson Cruz, Rangers outfielder.

• Everth Cabrera, Padres shortstop.

• Jhonny Peralta, Tigers shortstop.

• Antonio Bastardo, Phillies reliever.

• Jordany Valdespin, Mets outfielder.

• Francisco Cervelli, Yankees catcher.

• Jesus Montero, Mariners catcher.

• Cesar Puello, Mets outfield prospect.

• Sergio Escalona, Houston Astros pitching prospect.

• Fernando Martinez, Yankees outfield prospect.

• Fautino De Los Santos, free-agent pitcher.

• Jordan Norberto, free-agent pitcher

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