Nonsense Newsletter No. 177: The truth about the hobby, The pitchers got it goin' on and more!
Yo! Welcome to another edition of the Nonsense Newsletter! This week, John Dudley discusses how it’s good to be a pitcher this season in the MLB. Meanwhile, I talk about the “perks” of the hobby in harsh and real-life terms. Oh, and the Quick Hits section is fire (all the kids say that now… it means real good to us older folks). So, let’s sit back and enjoy this, people.
By John Dudley
2025 is shaping up to be the year of the pitcher. 20!!! pitchers have ERAs under 3 as of writing. Last year, only 9 pitchers could claim that at the same point of the season. With so many pitchers dominating, it’s worth checking out the hobby prospects of the league’s aces that are pitching brilliantly.
Pitchers are often overlooked in the hobby, with the occasional exception, such as Skenes. The tenuous place pitchers hold in the hobby is even more precarious, as the way modern pitchers are used makes it difficult for them to create a solid HOF case.
Let’s see if any of the 20 pitchers with ERAs under 3 have hobby potential, or if Paul Skenes will be alone as a hobby star.
By John McTaggart
great friend of mine in the hobby recently passed something along to me that I found hilarious, and at the same time a little too close to reality to be completely comfortable with!
And in the decades that I’ve been involved in this hobby, this little graph has held firm, and I’m betting that decades from now it will remain true.
And yet, we still flock to it like Monarchs to Mexico… year after year, generation after generation… same story.
The real question is… why?
The real answer is…. Because it’s awesome, and sometimes being smart, practical and wise just isn’t much fun!
Plus, and I don’t know about you, but I stopped impressing women quite a while ago now, coming to terms with the realization that I am clearly not that impressive to most women.
Quick Hits
Hobby News- Fanatics Fest is this weekend! With top-flight guests and exclusive products, the show will likely be a hit. It did have some minor hiccups in its maiden run, but it looks like they have ironed out the issues, and it should be a great time for all.
Vintage- File this under “What is the world coming to… ?” A FedEx worker in Tennessee is accused of stealing a pair of pre-war baseball cards, a 1933 Goudey Sport Kings Ty Cobb and a 1915 Cracker Jack Chief Bender, after delivering the actual package to the rightful recipient — without the cards inside. The customer reported the incident to FedEx and not long after that, saw the cards listed on Ebay. The cards have an estimated value of $6,856. Authorities, with help from Ebay, traced the account to 34-year old, Antwone Tate. After further investigation, several other missing items were recovered, including gold bars and a diamond ring.
Hobby News- Ryan Cracknell has left Beckett, and the hobby world is poorer for it, as he was the saint in charge of all Beckett’s lovely checklists. Hopefully, Beckett will find a brave soul to continue that work as I’d wager the checklists drive the bulk of Beckett’s non-grading web traffic. Hats off to Mr. Cracknell for his years of hard work and best of luck in his future endeavors (with Topps it appears). In the meantime, chasingmajors.com looks like the new best option for checklists. It lacks the ability to see checklists by team, but it does offer solid estimated print runs for most inserts and parallels, which is pretty spiffy.
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.