Steroids and card prices

bill7549

Hey, just wanted to get everyone's opinion on this topic. It seems to me that the value of recent star cards, especially those of Bonds and the like, will drop due to this whole steroids in baseball scandal. It seems like the same thing might happen to the card market that happened back in the mid-90s due to the strike and missed World Series. What does everyone think?

Personally, I just collect older vintage cards at this point, strictly because of the history of the cards. It really means something to me to look at cards from 1887, 1909, and 1952 in my collection, knowing how much history there is in baseball. Plus the fact you know these guys never heard of steroids, let alone took them.

helionaut

I don't think it'll be that bad. Any ill will seems to be focused on the individual players. Barry was never popular due to his attitude, but has won people over with his incredible performance and a slight image makeover. Giambi was never very popular due to his late arrival as a star. Sheffield was never very popular, either. Caminiti was a hobby non-entity, and Canseco has been a clown for over a decade. So what happens if only unpopular guys are at the center of a scandal? Not much overall, but their prices would drop. Of course, if McGwire or Sosa was to write a book with Canseco-like allegations and names named, that would be a problem, but I don't think they would, even if it was true.

I'm not convinced that using steroids helps that much, so I'm not concerned about the impact on the hobby. If players are stronger than ever before, and the ball is juiced, wouldn't we be seeing 550-600 foot home runs with some frequency? I don't think there was a 500' homer hit all last season, even with their bizarre distance approximations. So I guess the thinking is that steroids help hitters turn ordinary flies into homers. But wouldn't this increased strength turn real homers be legendary shots? And wouldn't sharp line drives turn into lasers straight to outfielders or off the fences? I don't see that going on.

And it's not like the old guys never cheated. Babe Ruth corked his bat. So did Rose, allegedly. These revelations didn't tarnish them.

WinPitcher

Wabittwax

helionaut, excellent post, that makes sense. There really isn't any "monster" HR's in baseball that leave a lasting impression. I can remember on TV watching guys like Ron Cey and Leon Durham hit the ball out of Wrigley Field just like Sosa does. It's not like today's players are putting them on the roof tops. The thing that really depresses me about all the players bulking up is that the fundamentals of baseball are seeming to go away. Today's players don't even know what a stolen base is. That's why guys like Rickey Henderson impress me so much. He's an all around player. They are a dying breed. His stolen base records will never be broken, imo. Plus watching these "mammoths" trying to chase down a long fly ball in the outfield is sad to watch.