Friday, January 17, 2014

The Famous Faces Behind Baseball Cards For Sale

By Marissa Velazquez


Once a school boy hobby, collecting baseball cards for sale is now big business. A card showing Babe Ruth as a rookie, a card that used to come in a pack of five along with bubble gum, now sells for tens of thousands of dollars on eBay. Never mind the prices of oil, diamonds or gold, it is the price of vintage baseball cards that we should all be watching for our next big investment.

The items were traded, flipped, tossed and even attached to bicycle spokes using clothes pins. Just imagine fixing hundreds of hundred dollar bills on the wheels of a bike just to hear the cool sound they make. Among the famed idols whose faces graced what eventually became a license to print money were Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Babe Ruth.

Southpaw Babe Ruth was born George Herman Ruth in 1895 Baltimore Maryland. He served three separate baseball teams over his career as both a pitcher and an outfielder. Sports Illustrated Magazine named him the best baseball player of the entire twentieth century.

First baseman and pitch hitter Lou Gehrig (1903-1941) played for the New York Yankees for 17 seasons (1923-1939). Nicknamed "The Iron Horse" because of his amazing stamina, Gehrig had a batting average of . 340. Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS aka Lou Gehrig's disease) on his 36th birthday, New York Mayor La Guardia ordered the flags of the city to be flown at half mast when he died on June 2, 1941.

Almost as well known for his brief stretch as Mr Marilyn Monroe as he was for his baseball skills, Jo DiMaggio (1914-1999) was a center fielder for the New York Yankees for his entire 13-year career. His record-making hitting streak of 56 games in 1941 has never been equaled. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. His two brothers, Dom and Vince, also enjoyed careers as center fielders.

Mickey Charles Mantle (1931-1995) played first base and centerfield for the New York Yankees for 18 seasons between 1951 and 1968. He played in 12 World Series and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Himself the recipient of a liver transplant, Mantle established a foundation to raise the public's awareness of the need for organ donations.

Tyrus Raymond Cobb, the "Georgia Peach, " was born in a small rural farm community in December 1886. An outfielder for the Detroit Tigers for the first 22 years of his career in American Major League Baseball, Cobb retired after a stint with the Philadelphia Athletics. A film about his life was made in 1994 and starred Tommy Lee Jones.

Baseball cards for sale may be found on a variety of auction sites. Countries where they are most popular are Canada, Cuba, Japan and the United States. The face of the cards would bear the image of the player, along with his name and club affiliation. The back sides would contain extra biographical information along with the players' statistics to date. Common sponsors of the cards included bubble gum manufacturers and tobacco companies.




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