Postseason Glory
Kirk Gibson. Joe Carter. Sid Bream. David Tyree. “Bigshot” Bob Horry. Just mentioning their names summons up images of some of the most pivotal moments in their sports. They thrust themselves into our collective memories not by being fall of famers, or even All-Stars in some cases, but instead by exceptional performances in the postseason.
Postseason glory can create a modicum of permanent celebrity status. The big question is how does postseason success carry over into the hobby. The short answer is simply that it doesn’t matter much. Take a look at Sid Bream’s and David Tyree’s pricing and this becomes quite clear. The longer answer is that it matters somewhat and in certain conditions.
Where postseason glory matters a bit is for players that had strong careers, but not quite hall-of-fame level careers. Joe Carter’s 1984 Donruss rookie sells decently with PSA 9 copies going for $60. Not that impressive, but multiple copies have sold at that price recently so at least the volume is strong. Without his famous home run, Carter is very similar to Ruben Sierra. Sierra’s own rookies sell in surprisingly decent volume as well but for far less. Horry’s rookie cards sell for around $35 in decent volume. Joe Smith is listed by Basketball Reference as having the most similar career to Horry and his cards seldom even get graded, The difference is the postseason heroics.
The Real Benefits
Graded rookies are nice and all, but the real advantage postseason glory bestows is in making these players kings of the bargain boxes. Toss some of these guys in the quarter, dollar, and five-dollar boxes at a show and they will draw attention and actually sell. Nostalgia is a driving force in the hobby and these guys are dripping in it. Watch someone flip through a stack of cards and you’ll see folks stop and smile when they get to Kirk Gibson or Joe Carter. Often, you’ll see people act out Gibson’s trot as they explain his importance to the younger generation. David Tyree should be an afterthought in the hobby, but Giants fans will be snagging his cards out of bargain bins for the next fifty years.
Lastly, there is one more blessing that postseason glory has for the hobby. This one benefits the players themselves greatly. Postseason highlights make these players sought-after convention guests. These guys will spend the rest of their lives signing images of their singular achievement and getting paid handsomely for it. It’s a great gig for players that normally wouldn’t draw any interest from autograph seekers.
Wrap-Up and What’s Making Me Happy This Week
The fun thing about the postseason for any sport is that our heroes can come from anywhere. An opportune play can turn a bench player into a household name for the rest of their lives. Every single playoff game has the potential to elevate a role player into someone that fans will be chasing for years, even if they are stuck in the bargain bins. As for what’s making me happy in the hobby this week, it is the continued release of 2024 Topps Series 1 information. I’m excited about this release and love that they are slowly revealing new content. This week we got images of the Team Colors parallels and they are gorgeous. There are lots of complaints about parallel overload, but when they look this good the more the merrier.