Nonsense Newsletter No. 123: The MLB's East Divisions, a hockey hiatus, 1975 Topps Baseball and more!

Welcome to spring, and welcome to another blossoming edition of the Nonsense newsletter. In this week’s installment, John Dudley takes on baseball’s east divisions. I, on the other hand, justify my hiatus from the hockey hobby. Meanwhile, the Quick Hits section is yet another reason to love this newsletter! So, as the flowers bloom and the weather turns to warm, I present to you another edition of the Nonsense Newsletter.

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By John Dudley

Baseball is here. Kind of. It’s in South Korea at least. It’ll be all the way here next week. Before Opening

Day, it is time to run through the last of the baseball regions. If you missed them, take a minute and

check out the West and Central rundowns. Importantly, this is not a list of the best players on each

team. Rather, it is a look at one player who I think has an interesting storyline in the hobby this year.

American League East

Baltimore Orioles- The Orioles delivered last year and the excitement around them is growing. Their

young talent is superb, but I’m more interested in how the hobby treats Corbin Burnes if he performs

well. With Greinke, Kershaw, Scherzer, and Verlander on the way out, Burnes is in the mix with about a

dozen other players to be the next hobby-relevant pitcher. A Cy Young and a trip to the postseason and

we might all be kicking ourselves for not picking up Burnes rookie autos for less than the price of a retail

blaster.

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By John McTaggart

We need to get something straight here… I really do love the hockey hobby.

The cards are cool.

The community is amazing, and, I dare say, the attitude in hockey is unlike any other trading card mindset.

People seem to be more laid-back, as a general rule. 

There’s more focus on collecting as opposed to “investing,” and the community is extremely tight-knit. 

All these things, and more, are what drew me to it many years ago, despite the fact that I have never officially played the game. 

Heck, I look like a rhinoceros on ice skates whenever I lace them up and hit the ice. 

There’s nothing graceful, nothing pretty, about me and ice skating. 

Nonetheless, my love for the game and the hobby prevailed. 

But lately, however, I’ve toned it all down, put the sport and the hobby on the back burner, focusing instead on my beloved baseball. 

Why?

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Quick Hits

Hobby News- CGC acquired the autograph authentication specialist JSA which is a major move from a company I figured was looking for an exit strategy from the sports market. Arguably the biggest loser here is BGS as JSA has long been their main rival in authentication with BGS having an advantage due to JSA not slabbing or encapsulating anything. I’d wager that the advantage is toast in the next couple of months. I also don’t think this is sufficient to save CGC’s sports venture so I’m expecting some more aggressive moves.

Vintage- I have an idea — let’s talk about 1975 Topps baseball cards! Well, I’m not the only one to share this sentiment as evidenced by a great article in Sports Collectors Daily. This set, loaded with top-notch RCs, is discussed further here. 

Hobby News- Wembanyama-mania heads to an unexpected place with Topps Dynasty baseball. He’ll have autos with patches from a Yankees jersey including dual autos with Aaron Judge. While the addition of Tom Brady cards certainly helped Bowman Draft, it honestly wasn’t that much of a difference maker. Draft was always going to be one of the top products of the year. Dynasty is a beautiful product, but overpriced and largely overlooked by the hobby. This should help ensure that people at least notice Dynasty exists this year. 

Hobby News- Hockey is all the rage with Bedard hunting becoming the national pastime. Soccer has seemingly fallen out of favor and is seldom mentioned anymore. Soccer is still vying with hockey to be the fourth major sport in the card-collecting world. Over the last month, 34,631 soccer cards were graded by the major grading companies compared to 34,441 hockey cards. Soccer has seen a dip, but rumors of its demise in the hobby are overblown.

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The Sports Card Nonsense newsletters reflect the opinions of only the authors and contributors. They are for informational purposes only and are not a recommendation for purchases or of an investment strategy or to buy or sell any assets.

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