Baseball Card Market Report for February 16-22, 2023 - Top eBay Sales

PLUS -- Are there any bargains among Hall of Fame snubs?

Feb 24, 2023

Note: When you click on links to various merchants in this newsletter and make a purchase, this can result in this newsletter earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Ho-Hum Heights

There’s not much shocking or even all that interesting in this week’s list of the top eBay baseball card sales over the last seven days (see bottom of post).

Mostly, it’s what you’d expect — Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Julio Rodriguez, etc.

That’s just the way things often go this time of year, right at the beginning of Spring Training, when the season hasn’t yet made waves and the Hall of Fame furor is mostly settled.

Hey, speaking of HOF hubbub, how about we dive into our weekly query by checking this equation …

Hall of Fame Snubs = Cardboard Bargains?

In case you didn’t notice, Hall of Fame ballot season wrapped up a month or so ago, culminating with the big announcement announcement of the new inductees (well, inductee).

And, every year when we skip hand-in-hand down Cooperstown Colonnade, one of our favorite topics of discussion is HOF snubs — guys who could or *should* be in, but who arent’t.

It’s not just the current ballot that provides fodder, either. Nope, the historic log of debatable outsiders is long enough to spark the hot stove all through the winter.

Occasionally, one of those dudes even breaks through via whatever incarnation of the Veterans Committee is in place at any given time and gets unsnubbed.

When that happens, it’s usually accompanied by a healthy uptick in card prices.

Wouldn’t it be cool to identify undervalued cards before such an unsubbing occurs? Or, put another way, are there any bargains right now among the snubbed?

-Affiliate Ad-

-End Affiliate Ad-

To find out, I grabbed the top five players, by measure of WAR (Baseball Reference version) who are 1) not in the Hall of Fame, 2) eligible in the sense that they’ve been retired for five years, etc., 3) not a pariah (e.g., Bonds, Clemens, et al.).

Then, for each one, I …

Found one of his top historical comps who *is* in the Hall of Fame, based on Baseball Reference’s Similarity Scores
Found the top rookie card for each of those two players, by measure of number of graded card sales
Found the Card Value Multiplier for each of those cards
Found the Multiplier of Multipliers (MoM) for the two cards, with the snub in the numerator and his comp in the denominator

It’s a familiar formula if you’ve been around these parts long.

Here’s are how this week’s matchups played out …

(The following section contains affiliate links to eBay listings for the cards being discussed.)

Lou Whitaker v. Ryne Sandberg

1978 Topps Lou Whitaker (#704) - PSA 9

WAR: 75.1
Value: $225
Common Value: $10
Multiplier: 22.5

Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)

1983 Topps Ryne Sandberg (#83) - PSA 9

WAR: 68
Value: $65
Common Value: $10
Multiplier: 6.5

Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)

Multiplier of Multipliers (MoM): 3.5

Bob Grich v. Ryne Sandberg

1971 Topps Bobby Grich (#193) - PSA 8

WAR: 71.1
Value: $350
Common Value: $12
Multiplier: 29

Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)

1983 Topps Ryne Sandberg (#83) - PSA 9

WAR: 71.1
Value: $65
Common Value: $10
Multiplier: 6.5

Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)

Multiplier of Multipliers (MoM): 4.5

Rick Reuschel v. Roy Halladay

1973 Topps Rick Reuschel (#482) - PSA 8

WAR: 69.5
Value: $35
Common Value: $10
Multiplier: 3.5

Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)

1997 Bowman Chrome Roy Halladay (#212) - PSA 9

WAR: 64.2
Value: $75
Common Value: $2
Multiplier: 38

Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)

Multiplier of Multipliers (MoM): 0.092

Kenny Lofton v. Richie Ashburn

1991 Upper Deck Final Edition Kenny Lofton (#24F) - PSA 10

WAR: 68.4
Value: $22
Common Value: $2
Multiplier: 11

Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)

1949 Bowman Richie Ashburn (#214) - PSA 6

WAR: 64.2
Value: $900
Common Value: $80
Multiplier: 11

Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)

Multiplier of Multipliers (MoM): 1.0

Graig Nettles v. Ron Santo

1969 Topps Graig Nettles (#99) - PSA 8

WAR: 68
Value: $130
Common Value: $13
Multiplier: 10

Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)

1961 Topps Ron Santo (#35) - PSA 8

WAR: 70.5
Value: $900
Common Value: $20
Multiplier: 45

Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)

Multiplier of Multipliers (MoM): 0.22

—
So, what does all this mean?

Well, to start, a smaller Mom in this case means the non-Hall of Famer is closer to “common” value in his rookie-card set than the Hall of Famer is.

Theoretically, then, a smaller MoM could mean there is more room for growth, should a snub eventually get unsnubbed.

Viewing these numbers in that light we see that either Grich and Whitaker are already pretty pricey, or Sandberg might actually be undervalued by the market. Either way, if you’re looking for lightning in a bottle, you might need to look beyond the keystone.

To the mound, for example, where Reuschel looks pretty cheap compared to Doc.

Or to third base, where Nettles remains underappreciated just about across the board.

Lofton breaks even with Ashburn, but there is a big difference in eras there, so … grain of salt.

Of course, the most likely of these snubs to actually get elected is probably Sweet Lou, and if his card values climb much more, he’ll be in the strange position of being both underappreciated and overhyped (relatively speaking).

And, speaking of speaking and of hype, let’s have a look at the …

Top Baseball Card Sales on eBay for February 16-22, 2023

(Quick note — this list contains affiliate links to the original eBay listings.)

If you want to see updated 30-day market toppers anytime, we have a couple of resources over on WaxPackGods.com:

Most expensive baseball cards sold in the last 30 days
Most expensive football cards sold in the last 30 days
Most expensive basketball cards sold in the last 30 days

Now, on with the show …

Baseball Card Values Newsletter

Discussion about this post