By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor | Commentary

Will a time of reflection reflect our complicated times?

That’s the question we’ll get the answer to on Jan. 9, when the latest class of inductees into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will be unveiled.

This year’s Hall of Fame ballot arrived from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Wednesday with some of the game’s biggest names ever on the ballot — some being players whose statistics eclipsed many others in the record books as they defied age and just kept getting better as their careers progressed.

Now comes the biggest question … yes or no?

Well, if you examine the values of their key baseball cards today vs. a decade ago, you might already have an answer — at least one that reflects how the fans feel. Many values for stars with clouds of suspicion around them are shells of what they were in their prime. Here’s a look at the most-notable players on the ballot when it comes to cardboard. Also, be sure to submit your votes on the ballot below.

Jeff Bagwell
Astros, 1991-2005 (click here for a checklist or Online Price Guide)
.297 average, 449 HRs, 1,529 RBI, 202 SB, 1994 NL MVP, one Gold Glove, four-time All-Star
First introduced to collectors as the gem in one the worst trades ever and then as the 1991 NL Rookie of the Year, Bagwell was a power-hitting, all-around star for Houston. He’s never been directly caught up in any steroid scandals, but some of his recent comments about their use seem unusual to this writer if Bagwell was against using. Would he get my vote after that? Maybe.
Best Rookie Card: 1991 Ultra Update #79
Value Then (Dec. 2002): $10 Value Now: $6

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Craig Biggio
Astros, 1988-2007 (click here for a checklist or OPG)
.281 average, 291 HRs, 1,175 RBI, 414 SB, four Gold Gloves, seven-time All-Star
Another mainstay for Houston, this member of the 3,00o-hit club played consistently and had some strong seasons but none that are overwhelming on their own when looking at the stat sheet (never hit 30 home runs or drove in 100, for example). That said, though, the end result is still Hall of Fame worthy. He’s not the flashiest selection, but he’s a good one. He’d get my vote and he should get in.
Best Rookie Card: 1988 Score Rookie/Traded #103T
Value Then: $8 Value Now: $12

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Barry Bonds
Pirates/Giants, 1986-2007 (click here for a checklist or OPG)
.298 average, 762 HRs, 1,996 RBI, 514 SB, seven-time NL MVP, eight Gold Gloves, 14-time All-Star
He’s Major League Baseball’s single-season and career home run leader. He’s got more MVP awards than anyone else — and should have had more — and he was walked more than any player in history. He’s also one with plenty of BALCO baggage — he was found guilty of obstruction of justice and is a felon based on his elusive testimony in the case. His numbers all indicate he should be in the Hall, but there’s little doubt in many people’s minds that those numbers were probably aided. One could also argue that he was the best all-around player in the game before the time of his alleged use began — and some voters probably will cite that as a reason for selecting him. It’ s valid, but it’s not for me. While MLB did not have policies about performance-enhancers during much of his career, Bonds is the debate of all debates here. If I had a vote, I wouldn’t use it — but he’ll probably get into the Hall at some point. He probably should — he’s the ultimate icon, the personification, of the generation of questioned players. Oh, and he sold a boat-load of cardboard through the years, too.
Best Rookie Card: 1987 Fleer #604
Value Then: $50 Value Now: $12

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Roger Clemens
Red Sox/Blue Jays/Yankees/Astros, 1984-2007 (click here for a checklist or OPG)
354-184 record, 3.12 ERA, 4,672 strikeouts in 4,916.2 innings, 1986 AL MVP, seven-time Cy Young winner, 11-time All-Star
See Bonds — but switch everything when it comes to superlatives to pitching. On paper, he’s one of the most-dominating pitchers of the modern era, a four-time 20-game winner, a two-time single-game strikeout record-holder and a guy who won more Cy Young awards than anyone else. He’s also had his share of courtroom time where he was found not-guilty on all six perjury counts against him. But, like Bonds, the damage has been done and his key cardboard is nowhere near its prime or where it should be for a player of his caliber. I wouldn’t vote for him — there’s just too much, if one examines all the details and allegations along with those around him, indicating that he might have used PEDs during his remarkable career.
Best Rookie Card: 1984 FleerUpdate #27
Value Then: $180 Value Now: $120

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Don Mattingly
Yankees, 1982-1995 (click here for a checklist or OPG)
.307 average, 222 HRs, 1,099 RBI, 14 SB, 1985 AL MVP, nine Gold Gloves, six-time All-Star
Sorry Yankees fans, he’s a Bronx legend, but “Donnie Baseball” really shouldn’t be part of a legitimate discussion about the Hall. Monument Park? Sure. On cardboard, there’s no doubting how important his Rookie Cards were in the 1980s, but that time has long passed. Put him in Padres pinstripes for his career and nobody would disagree with this argument, either.
Best Rookie Card: 1984 Donruss #248
Value Then: $30 Value Now: $30

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Fred McGriff
Blue Jays/Padres/Braves/Rays/Cubs/Dodgers, 1986-2004 (click here for a checklist or OPG)
.284 average, 493 HRs, 1,550 RBI, 72 SB, five-time All-Star
He’s never been caught up in any allegations about steroid use, which should make his power numbers more impressive. But like many sluggers who are from earlier years, though, they just can’t compare. Had he spent his career for one or two teams and played just as well or a tad better, his case might be stronger. Same could be said for his baseball cards as bouncing from team to team can’t help popularity. I’d vote for him, knowing that he’s likely not going in.
Best Rookie Card: 1986 Donruss #28
Value Then: $10 Value Now: $8

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Mark McGwire
Athletics/Cardinals, 1986-2001 (click here for a checklist or OPG)
.263 average, 583 HRs, 1,414 RBI, 12 SB, one Gold Glove, 12-time All-Star
He’s an admitted steroid user and did so during his then-magical 1998 season when he became the single-season home run champion. His reluctance to not talk about the past when it mattered is perhaps what people remember most, not the tearful confession before he was set to take an MLB coaching job — or anything from that season that just looks a lot less special now. He did the right thing by not denying what happened and moving along with his life and career. That’s commendable — and something that, to me, would make voting for player who have the bonafide numbers potentially more viable. I’m still a bit of a Bash Brothers fan, too, but when it comes to a Hall of Fame vote, I just don’t think so.
Best Rookie Card: 1985 Topps #401
Value Then: $50 Value Now: $20

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Mike Piazza
Dodgers/Marlins/Mets/Padres/Athletics, 1992-2007 (click here for a checklist or OPG)
.308 average, 427 HRs, 1,335 RBI, 17 SB, 12-time All-Star
There’s no doubt that he was one of the best hitters at catcher. But he has been among those who have been questioned in the past, which makes his story from an out-of-nowhere draft pick to legend less interesting to me. In this case I play my cynic card. No vote, but given the position he played I’m sure he’ll get in at some point. He was very popular for two notable franchises for a long time — and that obviously can’t hurt his cards or his chances at the Hall.
Best Rookie Card: 1992 Fleer Update #92
Value Then: $80 Value Now: $30

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Sammy Sosa
Rangers/White Sox/Cubs/Orioles, 1989-2007 (click here for a checklist or OPG)
.252 average, 609 HRs, 1,667 RBI, 234 SB, 1998 NL MVP, seven-time All-Star
Three of the best single-season home run marks belong to him, and he’s one of only two to hit 60-plus more than once. The storied power is there. According to The New York Times, though, he was one of the 104 players who tested positive for PEDs during the 2003 survey tests that prompted MLB to adopt a drug policy.  Like other sluggers here, Sosa sold a ton of cardboard in those prime power years but those cards are a shell of what they had been just like his image is. The numbers are gaudy, but I wouldn’t vote for him.
Best Rookie Card: 1990 Leaf #220
Value Then: $80 Value Now: $12

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Larry Walker
Expos/Rockies/Cardinals, 1989-2005 (click here for a checklist or OPG)
.313 average, 383 HRs, 1,311 RBI, 230 SB, 1997 NL MVP, seven Gold Gloves, five-time All-Star
Like McGriff, Walker was a guy who quietly put up numbers — his 1997 season is ridiculous — but three batting titles and 383 home runs later, it’s just not enough. Plus there’s the whole Coors Field debate that was much more fun to pontificate about pre-PEDs. Put him in a Colorado Rockies Hall of Fame for sure, but Cooperstown probably won’t happen until the Veterans Committee.
Best Rookie Card: 1990 Leaf #325
Value Then: $15 Value Now: $8

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

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How would you vote?

See every name on this year’s ballot below. As with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, you can only select 10 names from the list. Those who get 75 percent of the vote are in. Those who get less than five percent are removed from next year’s ballot.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

Panini America is bringing its video cards back. The HRX Video Trading Cards will appear in 2012 Totally Certified Football, due out in late-February.

The video cards will feature new players such as Trent Richardson and footage. There will also be autographed versions of the cards, numbered to 10 with a 14K parallel, a 1-of-1

The HRX (Highlight Reel Xperience) Video Trading Cards made their debut in 2010-11 Totally Certified Basketball. The video card also appeared in 2011 Totally Certified Football with Tim Tebow, Cam Newton, Mark Ingram and Andy Dalton.

This is the second year of Totally Certified in the football category for Panini. The company is returning the micro-etched pattern from last year’s debut

Six packs will be found in each box with six hits, including an on-card signed Freshman Fabric Rookie Card and at least one other autograph.

Totally Certified will feature 100 regular cards of stars and retired players, 100 Freshman Phenom Autographs and 35 Freshman Fabric cards as part of the base set.

Some of the other autograph or memorabilia subsets include Certified Future, Freshman Fabric Platinum Red Signatures, Certified Future Signature Materials, Stitches in Time and Team Panini Signature Materials.

Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Football. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

Roll Tide!

Upper Deck is readying a new school-centered football product for The University of Alabama.

The long checklist will include some of the all-time greats for Alabama such as Bart Starr, Joe Namath and, of course, Bear Bryant.

A hobby box will consist of 24 packs with eight cards in each pack. There are 100 cards in the base checklist with 90 regular cards and 10 Roll Tide Through the Years.

There are several inserts for the Alabama set with many of the cards autographed.

There is autograph in every hobby box with two Crimson Tide Icons cards. Each pack has two to three inserts as well.

Some of the autographs include Nick Saban, Namath, Ken Stabler, Shaun Alexander, Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson.

This isn’t the first time Upper Deck has given this type of treatment to school. It has done Oklahoma and Texas in the past.

Alabama Football is scheduled to come out Sept. 25.

Susan Lulgjuraj is the editor of Beckett Football magazine. You can email Susan here with ideas, comments and questions. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Chris Olds | Beckett Sports Card Monthly Editor

As teased in the pages of Beckett Football on sale now, Topps Magic will return to the NFL one more time this season with an online-exclusive rookies-focused release coming later this month.

On Wednesday, Topps revealed that the base set will consist of 110 cards, while each 11-card pack will include one bonus autograph card for $19.99 and can only be found at ShopTopps.com, the company’s webstore, beginning on Jan. 25.

The set should include past Heisman winners Mark Ingram and Cam Newton as well as Julio Jones, Andy Dalton, DeMarco Murray, A.J. Green and Blaine Gabbert based on its packaging mocks and preview materials.

As many as 68 players will sign for the set with 1/1 black-border autographs and Black Magic Cut autographs to be found as well.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

Join Beckett Football’s Dan Hitt and Andrew Tolentino as they rip into a box of 2011 Absolute Memorabilia in this latest edition of Box Busters.

What will they find inside? Watch and find out…

By Andrew Tolentino | Football Editor

Never mind naughty and nice lists, there’s one Panini present that Christmas-inclined collectors won’t be finding underneath the tree this year.

On Dec. 28 ( still within the acceptable time frame for leaving up holiday decor), the Donruss ‘D’ will make its return to the Rated Rookies boxed set. Presumably priced in the same realm as last year’s $19.99 release, Panini’s would-be stocking stuffer packs bang-for-your-buck in each box.
Value in the coming 2011 Donruss Rated Rookies boxed set is defined by the opportunity to collect 100 top-performing (“rated,” if you will) rookies and one newcomer autograph. While the 100-player set should be the same with each break, the one-per-box rookie autograph odds could justify repeat ripping — especially at such a relatively low SRP.

Stay tuned to Beckett.com for more information about Panini’s 2011 Rated Rookies boxed set release, including a short-print reveal which should land in early 2012. Meanwhile, enjoy the sneak peek.

By Chris Olds | Beckett Sports Card Monthly Editor

Athletes wearing pink sports equipment to promote breast cancer awareness has been relatively common at times in the last few years.

But now, thanks to Panini America, it’s coming to football cards.

Thinking pink on cardboard will begin with 2011 Panini Gridiron Gear, which arrives on Nov. 23 and will include 64 “A Crucial Catch” cards inserted into packs — two cards per NFL team.

However, observant collectors might see the cards on the secondary market before then, though, as the cards also will be distributed at NFL games in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Equipment used by pro athletes during such awareness initiatives often makes its way onto the auction block to benefit charity and the NFL is no exception. While Sept. 11 game commemorative memorabilia has been grabbing plenty of attention via NFL.com auctions, there also is a Breast Cancer Awareness auction section active right now, too.

Panini will be the first manufacturer to include trading cards specifically noting the programs into packs, though Topps did include pink manufactured bat barrel cards into a past MLB product and it’s hard to miss the action photos from past games that feature players with pink gloves, cleats or other gear in the photos.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

Join Beckett Football’s Dan Hitt and Andrew Tolentino as they rip into a pair of 2011 Timeless treasures boxes in this latest edition of Box Busters.

What will they find inside? Watch and find out …

By Andrew Tolentino | Football Editor

Playing up the holiday-stocking-stuffer potential for its mid-December release, Panini America gifted the hobby with a 2011 Plates & Patches preview today.

Complete with new hard-signed, prime-memorabilia Rookie Cards and Signal Callers inserts, 2011-tweaked Plates & Patches hits shelves on Dec. 14 — which leaves plenty of time for Santa to get  his act together.

The brand’s namesake is upheld by a breadth of 1/1 printing plates (in autographed, prime-memorabilia and combined forms) and a plethora of rare patches. But the on-average guarantees are important, too.

Headlined by Rookie and quarterback clout, hit-centric 10-card boxes abide the following formula:

• One on-card, prime-memorabilia Rookie Card
• Two additional autographs (numbered to 499 or less)
• Two memorabilia cards (numbered to 299 or less)

Dan Marino featured in the quarterback-commemorating Signal Callers insert set.

Mark Ingram appearing on a limited-to-499-or-less, hard-signed, prime-memorabilia Rookie Card.

2011 Plates & Patches also comes with a good deal of Prime Jersey NFL Shield pulls.

Panini honors honorable players in this autographed, prime-memorabilia insert.

Among other legendaries, Sammy Baugh is showcased in Gridiron Cuts.

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By Andrew Tolentino | Football Editor

Now with football season in full swing, Topps is set to add yet another hobby-exclusive brand to its 2011 lineup.

Yesterday, the manufacturer released details about 2011 Topps Precision — a one-autograph (or autograph Relic)-per-pack product scheduled for a late-January drop date. Featuring fatness, each pack also contains three 72-point stock base cards and the chance to snag various ink versions of all-on-card rookie signatures.

Precision is configured at four packs per box and 12 boxes per case — a concentrated formula for fulfilling your serial-numbered fantasies.

Base Rookie Autograph cards take the cake with 36 newcomer subjects whose hard-signed signatures stand out in red, gold, white and “Precision” inks. At the moment, we’re unable to confirm what “precision” ink actually means, but it appears (above) as though these 1/1 autographs offer more detailed (slightly more legible) versions of player penmanship.

Veterans and retired set subjects are showcased in an array of parallels,  autograph combinations and limited forms.

On to the numbers game …

Base Rookie autograph cards

• Red Ink parallel (numbered to 75)
• Gold Ink parallel (numbered to 50)
• White Ink parallel (numbered to 25)
• Precision Ink parallel (1/1)

Veteran autograph cards

• Red parallel (numbered to 99)
• Gold parallel (numbered to 50)
• Green parallel (numbered to 25)
• Precision parallel (1/1)

Retired autograph cards

• Red parallel (numbered to 25)
• Gold parallel (numbered to 10)
• Precision parallel (1/1)

Multiple-autograph cards

• Dual-autograph cards (25 cards numbered to 25)
• Triple-autograph cards (15 cards numbered to 15)
• Quad-autograph cards (10 double-sided cards numbered to 10)
• Six-autograph cards (5 double-sided cards numbered to 5)
• Eight-autograph cards (3 book cards numbered to 5*)

*According to Topps’ release. Clarification to come.

Autographed Relic cards

• Rookie-autographed Jumbo Relics
  • Red parallel (numbered to 50)
  • Gold parallel (numbered to 35)
  • Green patch parallel (numbered to 25)
  • Precision patch parallel (1/1)
• Dual rookie-autographed patch cards (15 cards numbered to 5)
• Veteran autographed patch cards (15 cards numbered to 10)

2011 Topps Precision featured all-on-card rookie base autographs with red, gold, white and "precision" ink parallels.

Mark Ingram's base rookie autograph red ink parallel.

Cam Newton showcased on a Rookie autographed Jumbo Relics card.

Eight-autograph book cards headline the multi-player autograph cards in 2011 Topps Precision.

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