Baseball Card Market Report for March 23-29, 2023 - Top eBay Sales

PLUS -- Do Opening Day starters cost more on the card market?

Mar 31, 2023

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Junior Angels

As a new baseball season gets underway, you might think that the Angels were the team to beat, at least judging by the top of the eBay sales board.

Indeed, all through our listing of the most expensive cards from last week (see bottom of post), you’ll find plenty of Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout cards to keep your halo aglow.

They’re there rubbing elbows with a couple of the all-time great cardboard champs, Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth.

But none of those guys takes top billing, in terms of the number of overall appearances.

Nope.

That honor belongs to none other than Ken Griffey, Jr., who shows up a whopping nine times.

That’s not Tom Brady or Michael Jordan territory when it comes to dominating the hobby, but it’s a sort of out-of-the-blue resurgence for The Kid at the very top of the eBay market.

Heck, maybe it’s just a nod to Junior’s early exuberance for the game, the same sort that we all feel on Opening Day.

And, speaking of Opening Day …

Are Cards of Serial Opening Day Starters More Valuable?

Opening Day was yesterday…woot!

And, with a full slate of games to start the new season, every team is now on pace to go either 162-0 or 0-162 (or .500 or suffered a snow delay, blah blah blah).

I’m writing this a few days ahead of time, so I don’t have the whole story, but I can pretty much guess there weren’t many long performances by starting pitchers yesterday.

But there were still plenty of stars taking the mound to christen the new season for their teams.

That’s a time-honored tradition that’s not likely to change any time soon — the staff ace getting the nod on Opening Day. And that presents a sort of a ready-made question for us to answer this week:

Do Opening Day starts boost a pitchers’ card values in the long run?

To find out, I found five prolific Opening Day starters who are not Hall of Famers (to remove that honor from the list of factors affecting card value). Then, for each of the five, I:

Found one of his top historical comps who didn’t have so many first-day starts, according to Baseball Reference’s Similarity Scores (or other swags in some cases)
Found the top rookie card for each of those two pitchers, 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 Opening Day dude 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.)

Mark Buehrle v. Milt Pappas

Buehrle is among the game’s great workhorses of the 21st century, tossing over 200 innings each season from 2001 through 2014 and missing by 1 1/3 inning in his swan-song campaign (2015). His nine Opening Day starts is the White Sox record.

Like many comps on this list, Pappas was an All-Star in his own right, and even made three Opening Day starts of his own (one for the Reds, two for the Orioles).

2000 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Mark Buehrle (#69) - PSA 10

WAR: 59.1
Value: $70
Common Value: $2
Multiplier: 35

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1958 Topps Milt Pappas (#457) - PSA 7

WAR: 43.7
Value: $20
Common Value: $15
Multiplier: 1.33

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Multiplier of Multipliers (MoM): 26

Mario Soto v. Don Wilson

Soto toiled for some truly awful teams between the demise of the Big Red Machine and the Reds’ return to contention in 1985. He made six Opening Day starts along the way, and not by default, either — Soto was among the absolute best in the game in the early 1980s.

Like Soto, Wilson was an unsung star who played for some rough teams. He also made two Opening Day start.

1978 Topps Mario Soto (#427) - PSA 9

WAR: 25.7
Value: $45
Common Value: $4
Multiplier: 11

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1968 Topps Don Wilson (#77) - PSA 8

WAR: 27.7
Value: $15
Common Value: $10
Multiplier: 1.5

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Multiplier of Multipliers (MoM): 7.3

Roy Oswalt v. Cliff Lee

Oswalt had trouble staying on the mound after his early 30s, but his peak years were incredible - two 20-win seasons, pinpoint control, perennial top-five Cy Young finishes. And, of course, those eight Opening Day starts.

Lee sustained his durability longer than Oswalt, but he walked away at the age of 35. Not before winning a Cy Young award and making two Opening Day starts of his own.

2000 Bowman Chrome Roy Oswalt (#395) - PSA 9

WAR: 50
Value: $5
Common Value: $1
Multiplier: 5

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2002 SP Authentic Cliff Lee (#223) - PSA 10

WAR: 43.2
Value: $35
Common Value: $5
Multiplier: 7

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Multiplier of Multipliers (MoM): 0.7

Jered Weaver v. Doyle Alexander

If Randy Johnson hadn’t already commandeered the “Big Unit” moniker, Weaver might have nabbed it for his own. Standing 6’7”, Weaver towered over batters, and, though his slender frame didn’t generate the strikeouts you might have expected from that leverage advantage, Weaver was one of the best pitchers in the game in the early 2010s. His seven Opening Day starts are partial testimony to that.

For his part, Alexander is probably most famous as the other half of the trade that brought John Smoltz to the Braves. He enjoyed a long, productive career, though, just one without too many fireworks (including Opening Day starts).

2003 Upper Deck USA Baseball Jered Weaver (#USA6) - PSA 10

WAR: 34.6
Value: $7
Common Value: $3
Multiplier: 2.3

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1972 Topps Doyle Alexander (#579) - PSA 8

WAR: 35.4
Value: $20
Common Value: $5
Multiplier: 4

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Multiplier of Multipliers (MoM): 0.6

Brad Radke v. Jon Matlack

Radke was a plug-and-play, 200-inning guy who gave the Twins double-digit wins and league average-ish ERA every year thanks to great control. He was their best bet most years duting a long stretch of tough years, which garnered him nine Opening Day starts.

Matlack started his career by winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1972 before helping the Mets to the World Series the next year. He never made an Opening Day start in Flushing but got the call three times after a trade to the Texas Rangers before the 1978 season.

1995 Topps Traded Brad Radke (#79T) - PSA 9

WAR: 45.3
Value: $10
Common Value: $2
Multiplier: 5

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1973 Topps Jon Matlack (#55) - PSA 9

WAR: 39.4
Value: $25
Common Value: $15
Multiplier: 1.7

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Multiplier of Multipliers (MoM): 2.9

—

So, what do we see here?

Well, Buehrle and Soto scored easy wins, while Oswalt and Weaver come up short of the competition.

Radke comes out ahead of Matlack, but not resoundingly.

The verdict, then?

While piling up Opening Day starts is an impressive feat, it doesn’t seem to impart much extra oomph in the card market. Likely, if a pitcher has all the other attributes that make him an ace, collectors have already noticed.

First-day exploits are just the icing on top of the cardbard cake.

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Speaking of first-day frosting, here are some cards that will ice your bank account if you shell out for them …

Top Baseball Card Sales on eBay for March 23-29, 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

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