Yu Darvish... 6-1 with 2.60 ERA... Thoughts? Cards should continue to fly...

miconelegacy

I've been watching him closely. He really is dominating, with 8 different pitches too. Can't wait to see what his Bowman cards bring. Strasburg-2010, Harper-2011, Darvish-2012...

Have you watched him pitch? Great stuff.

cadets68

I have a Darvish 2009 Bowman Chrome BDPW2 X-Fractor at PSA awaiting grading. I think it is numbered out of 199.

Hope he continues to get hotter. Also hope my cards pop soon.

Shawn

Stooge

He was rollin' 4-1 and they took him out in the 8th. I would like to have seen the last 2 innings to see what he can do late.

Paul.

scmavl

I just picked this up before he finished his second game. By the end of the game, one had already sold for $50 more.

thenavarro

I watch almost every pitch of every Rangers game so it's been quite fun for me watching him progress. What I've found interesting though, is that the Rangers do rookie hazing such as Ross has to carry this bright pink backpack and wear a cowboy hat on his way to the bullpen, but I've yet to see Yu do any of that stuff. I hope for the team's sake, that he just hasn't been asked yet cause the Rangers seem to have petty good clubhouse chemistry from outer appearances, I'd hate for him to screw that up. It might be too that it's just the bullpen guys hazing Ross and since Yu's a starter he won't have to do that. It was neat watching him completely dominate the Yankees. He made Arod look foolish.

Here is Yu throwing his first major league pitch (a ball like the first several, )



I did miss part of his 2nd inning of work in his first game as me and Maven had to have some cheese fries, LOL.

thenavarro

If anyone is interested and wants autographed jerseys or balls, the Rangers hold silent auctions every home game where every bid wins, in other words, they use it to sell stuff. I think the wait is about 1-2 months on items, but they do have Yu signed jerseys and signed baseballs in it. I don't remember the price off the top of my head, but I think the signed jerseys were $300 or so. I'll probably end up picking up one for myself, and I don't mind picking some up for other board members at cost if you want them. I'm up there a lot, so next time I go (next home game is May 11), I'll try to remember to get prices if anyone is interested.

Mike

matthewbschultz83

The Rangers usually make the rookies do some sort of bit at the Triple Play Foundation Luncheon and one road trip late in the year they all have to dress in outrageous costumes. I bet he does both. According to the team broadcasters he doesn't use the translators around his teammates, just when he talks to the media.

He's been a treat to watch.

BaltimoreYankee

Mike - Is that where you usually sit at the Rangers games? If so.............nice!!

thenavarro

I finally remembered to get prices for the Darvish stuff tonight while I was at the game for those of you that PM'ed me.

They charge:

Baseballs $195
Bats $295
Jerseys $395

All of them come with MLB numbered hologram authentication.

plus a whopping $35 shipping fee

Yu is actually turning out to be a decent signer at the ballpark. I've heard from several friends that he has signed multiple times this year, including tonight but I couldn't get there early tonight, and didn't arrive till right around game time. Before people ask, no, I don't want to take items to get signed, if I do it's my own stuff. (except for one ball that I hope to eventually get signed for VitoCo by Michael Young) I don't chase graphs in person at the games anymore very often. When I do, I'm more concerned with helping my daughter not get crushed then I am in in taking other people's stuff. Most signings and events I'm willing to help board members, but that's on planned signings. For Rangers games however, it's a crapshoot, and a lot of the chasers act like total idiots and take a lot of the fun out of it, and I don't want to lug the stuff around while trying to have daddy/daughter time and then having Maven (or me) accidently drop nacho cheese on it or something and having someone ticked off. However, I don't mind picking up or ordering the items above for members if you want directly from the "auctions" they run at the games

.

Dboneesq

Mike ... have you purchased the $25.00 Hot Dog yet?

thenavarro

<< <i>Mike ... have you purchased the $25.00 Hot Dog yet? >>



Not yet but I do plan on trying it. The Rangers offer 20 percent off if you buy your food vouchers in advance so that will keep me from having to take out a loan for the dog. LOL. Tonight we just had tater tots covered in nacho cheese and some normal sized hot dogs. I didn't have much of an appetite watching them get swept by KC. It was a lite night

scmavl

Thanks for getting those prices, Mike. Whew, almost $250 for a signed ball for a guy who has only started 7 games... I'll have to think about that one.

mtcards

Unfortunately, I think Yu is headed into Lin territory. He will have a longer career, but like so many, his collectibles will never be hotter than they are now.

miconelegacy

<< <i>Unfortunately, I think Yu is headed into Lin territory. He will have a longer career, but like so many, his collectibles will never be hotter than they are now. >>



Maybe, maybe not...

8-Games, 6-1, 2.60 ERA. At this pace he'll take ROY and a CY Young!! He's incredible!

epatmythes

Yu is not headed for Lin territory... he's simply headed towards the territory (or worse) that that has been the fate of collectibles for nearly every single pitcher since Nolan Ryan... rookie cards that enjoy a time in the high dollar spotlight, crash to some level, and never prove to me a long term growth vehicle with exceedingly high valuation!

itzagoner

after perusing this thread i have determined that the only people being served salad at The Ballpark are Yu and the Accounting Dept.

Meatloaf

Kinda OT, because his cards don't have the rising power of Yu an dothers, but in terms of rising star pitchers on the diamond, I like Jeremy Hellickson way more than Yu. The dude is SICK and beats the best line ups in the AL. Outside of his ROY honors, he does not get large fanfare due to being on the Rays. However, he does not seek it out either. Cool dude with a great arm. He should be 7-0 now if it wasn't for some crazy comebacks by teams late in games. 4-0 w/ 2.77 is still good to go.

Hellickson Stats 2012

miconelegacy

That card looks Amazing encased!

Meatloaf

<< <i>That card looks Amazing encased! >>



I wanted a 10 when submitted, naturally. I pulled the card straight from a Bowman Platinum pack and carefully examined it (it is a serialized RC, but only 750/999). I could not find any flaws! However, PSA's microscopes are better than my aging eyeballs.

Sportsamerica

<< <i>Yu is not headed for Lin territory... he's simply headed towards the territory (or worse) that that has been the fate of collectibles for nearly every single pitcher since Nolan Ryan... rookie cards that enjoy a time in the high dollar spotlight, crash to some level, and never prove to me a long term growth vehicle with exceedingly high valuation! >>



Why I don't buy Rookie Pitchers cards... They will fall back down over time, Sell when hot, pick back up when they die back down.

Mike -- Do they still have the $1 dogs and $1 drink night?

CDsNuts

8-Games, 6-1, 2.60 ERA. At this pace he'll take ROY and a CY Young!! He's incredible!


Hideo Nomo after 12 starts: 6-1, 2.05 ERA. He was incredible!

miconelegacy

I guess what is for me, put the cards aside for a minute... It's seeing a player that has been so hyped actually step up from day 1 and perform.

Lin was much different. Didn't have the track record like Darvish and Harper.

I do agree that cards are at a high point. But Darvish if a month from now is 10-1, his cards will certainly go for more than today. With these rookies you have to short them just like a stock.

I also really enjoy seeing anyone beat the skeptics. That's one of my favorite things about sports. We see so much failure, players getting injured(Posey) badly, others getting caught with PED's, drugs, crimes, etc.

It's just nice to see real fresh playing and its more meaningful when they have been hyped versus coming out of nowhere.

Now to go find my Nomo cards...

digicat

Dontrelle Willis had a hot start to his career too:
1st 8 starts: 6-1, 51.2 ip, 2.61 era, 1.200 whip

Yu
1st 8 starts: 6-1, 52.0 ip, 2.60 era, 1.327 whip

bouwob

The other thing that he has going for him is the japanese market is huge and there are a large numbers of big spenders over there. Nomo still goes for outrages prices.

CDsNuts

Now to go find my Nomo cards...

Actually some of the tougher Nomo cards still bring crazy money so maybe Darvish cards aren't such a bad gamble even if he only has a couple good years.

miconelegacy

I don't think buying His graded cards is the best option to make money.

If you pull him from a pack, grade it then sell it or sit on it for a little while. Just have to watch his numbers.

Another thing to do, and not just Darvish is buy raw ungraded. Reds, Orange, Gold refractor auto's of rookies playing well in the minors. A lot of cards can get a PSA 9/10, or BGS 9/9.5/10. They'll sell for more than one raw.

That would be how I play Darvish currently.

thenavarro

<< <i>

<< <i>

Mike -- Do they still have the $1 dogs and $1 drink night? >>



As to the dogs, yes sir. Usually on Wednesday night. As a matter of fact I had 5 last night and my Coca Cola cost more than my hot dogs. They don't have dollar drinks. On some Sundays they have dollar ice cream for the kids

Just got home from that debacle today. Too hot (temp wise) to sit out there all day and lose in extra innings. Bunch of nonsense

Mike