News
Gaylord Perry, John Hadl rookie cards undervalued; Fred McGriff a steal
On Nov. 30, pro sports lost two high-impact players: Hall of Fame hurler Gaylord Perry and should-be football Hall of Famer John Hadl, a top quarterback in the old AFL and several years into the AFL/NFL merger.
Never mind Perry’s well-covered spitball. He was the ultimate warrior — one of those tough-as-nails guys who never wanted to come off the mound. In 22 seasons, he threw 303 complete games while compiling a 314-265 record. He struck out 3,534 batters and finished with a 3.11 ERA.
In the hobby, Perry’s rookie card, a 1962 Topps, has long been an undervalued item. In the months prior to his passing, we saw two PSA 8 specimens of the card sell for prices of $1,377 and $1,349. Since his death, amazingly, we haven’t seen any sell for higher prices than those.
Hadl is even more of a bargain. You can find his rookie card, a 1964 Topps, for less than $50, even if in 7 or 8 condition.
In college, Hadl was a multi-position star at Kansas. He went on to play in the AFL and NFL for 16 years, mostly with the Chargers. His final stats included 244 touchdown passes and 16 rushing TDs. He also produced 33,503 yards passing, teaming up with Lance “Bambi” Alworth to form one of the league’s most entertaining connections.
CRIME PAYS
Well, no, crime doesn’t pay. Unless your crime was knocking baseballs around MLB parks for two decades, as Fred “Crime Dog” McGriff did. Baseball’s newest Hall of Fame inductee had a worthy career: a .284 average with 493 homers and 1,550 RBI.
In the hobby, McGriff is a steal. We saw a PSA 10-grade 1986 Leaf rookie card of McGriff sell for $1,237 in December — and that was an outlier. Three days later, another PSA 10 of that McGriff rookie card got away for just $539 on four bids.
Those prices do represent an upswing, however. Two months earlier, a pair of McGriff Donruss rookies sold for $330 and $321.
