11.06.2009

Hit of the Year? Maybe the Decade!

For some reason, lately, I've been interested in getting the "hits" from Sweet Spot. The '08 Sweet Spot has been in the store up until recently, and now that the '09 SS are in, I thought I'd give it a try.

My luck is usually pretty bad, or average at best, so I let someone else pick the pack for me. Tom, the owner, was nice enough to pull out a fresh box, and, going on my judgment from the '08 boxes, I took the pack in the back of the stack. (No, I will not eat green eggs and ham....)

What did I get?



Not great. He even has an Indians' uniform on, but its a Giants card. Meh.

So I had Emily, Tom's daughter and resident good-luck charm, pick a pack for me. I think she picked the 3rd or 4th, and this is what I got:


Holy Shitaake Mushrooms!!!!!!!!!!

This is the biggest name, lowest number, most unique card I've ever pulled. I've only been buying high-end stuff for a short while, but SHNIKEES, this is amazing!

I didn't know much about Kiner, so I went to the Baseball Reference to find out more.
  • He was inducted into the HOF in 1975
  • He played only 10 years, the first 7 for Pittsburgh
  • He finished his career with the Indians in 1955
  • He hit .279 for his career, but had a whopping .548 slugging percentage!
  • In only 10 seasons, he hit 369 home runs and had 1015 RBIs, for an astounding average of 37 HRs and 101 RBIs per season!
In the similarity scores, three of the top ten he is similar to are Indians: Colavito, Doby and Belle. And by age, he is similar to Colavito, Thome, McCovey and Killebrew. Here's to you, Mr. Home Run. Thanks for the bat!


photo courtesy of Baseball Almanac


Now comes the big question: do I keep it, trade it or sell it?

Looking on the Bay, there are only three similar cards that have sold already.
  1. the Canseco bat barrel nameplate that Mario at Wax Heaven talked about that sold for $305
  2. an Orlando Cepeda nameplate that sold for $246
  3. an Adam Dunn nameplate that sold for $248
That's very, very, VERY enticing, and since this is a 1 of 2, I think it might go for more!

(As an aside, do you believe that an Adam Dunn bat barrel would sell for more than a certified great player and HOFer like Cepeda?!!?!! I can't.)

I think I will keep it for a short time, then sell it. Unless someone knocks me over with a tremendous trade offer that I can't refuse.

9 comments:

Grand Cards said...

Wow. That is an outstanding card to pick up! I can see your dilemma, given that you just pulled a really unique HOF card. I would check the market for Kiner items in general to see where this might price out, but if you're thinking of selling it I would do so sooner rather than later, while the sweet spot iron is still hot on the secondary market.

Shop it around the message boards first though--see what you might be able to get for it.

Collective Troll said...

That card is SWEET!!!!!! I loved Kiner as a kid because he was a broadcaster for WWOR in NY and I started collecting him and learning about his short and amazing career. I would keep it, UNLESS you could pull 400 plus for it. It is really a great card and I love it when a real collector gets a real hit. Good show!

BASEBALL DAD said...

That is just awesome!! Personally,I would keep it,unless I really needed the money.He is a part of baseball history and something like that doesn't come around too often. Then my two boys could sell it or fight over when I'm gone.Or,I think I've got a Vizquel bat card I'd trade you for it! LOL I wonder how Beckett missed that pack?

Mark Aubrey said...

I've got a Ralph Kiner bat card that I'll trade you. Straight up.

Nice pull.

beardy said...

Holy crapola that is nice! It'd be hard not to want to keep it, but if you're going to sell it, sell it soon.

Got my cards yesterday. Thanks for the great break!

Carl Crawford Cards said...

Amazing pull! Congrats.

The Notorious B.U.D. said...

Gadzooks that is a beauty! If it was me, I would sell it and take the $500+ to the bank.

Anonymous said...

Sell it now.... Before it loses its push

The Mojo Hand said...

Dude!!!

Very Mojonic!

I know you just puled it, but If you decide to sell it email me first. I may have some hardware you might want to trade for it.

Jay