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Why this 60-homer star gets no love among collectors
Aaron Judge’s 62 homers during the 2022 season brings up a great trivia question: Which player owns the most seasons with 60 home runs or more?
No, it’s not Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire or Barry Bonds. The answer is Sammy Sosa, who did it three times: 1998 (66), 1999 (63) and 2001 (64). He finished with 609 HRs, but his connection to steroids has kept him out of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
It also accounts for his so-so demand in the hobby. Normally, memorabilia related to guy with that kind of power commands home-run prices. Not so with Sosa, who played for Texas, both Chicago teams and Baltimore during his 18-year career.
Examples of Sosa’s 1990 Topps Tiffany rookie card graded PSA 10 recently sold for prices of $340 and $333, $320 and $316. Two other PSA 10 examples got away for just $225 and $152.
The unspectacular sales reflect what we’re seeing with all of Sosa’s rookie cards from multiple manufacturers at the time:
• Two 1990 Bowman Tiffany Sosa rookies went for prices of $197 and $78.
• A 1990 Fleer rookie graded PSA 10 sold for $178.
• A pair of 1990 Sosa rookies graded PSA 10 sold for $111 and $109.
• A lot of 14 ungraded Sosa Leaf rooks went for only $79. All looked to be at least in Near-Mint condition.
• Sosa’s 1990 Upper Deck rookie may be the best bargain of all. In one October sale, a lot of 48 ungraded but nice-looking examples drew only 10 bids and settled at $67.
Sosa autographs also draw minimal interest. You can find authenticated examples selling for anywhere from $25-$100.
Perhaps such memorabilia will prove to be good investments, should Sosa ever get the call from the Hall. But until then, Sosa — like Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and others linked to PEDs — is a chilly name in the hobby.
