Beckett Sports Card Hot / Cold – March 25, 2023
Welcome to another edition of Beckett Sports Card Hot/Cold where we take a quick and fun look at what’s hot and what’s not in the worlds of sports and sports cards.
In case you needed another reminder of the greatness of Shohei Ohtani, he gave it to us during the World Baseball Classic. He was a key component in Japan’s tournament victory. Of course, it all culminated in the epic strikeout against with Angels teammate Mike Trout to win it. Ohtani was named the WBC MVP. At the plate, he hit .435 with four doubles, a home run and eight RBI. On the mound, the two-way phenom went 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 9.2 innings of work. It was good enough to earn two spots on the tournament’s All-Star roster.
Among the other standouts for Japan was Masataka Yoshida who tied a WBC record with 13 RBI. Collectors will likely be seeing a lot more of the outfielder this season after signing a five-year deal with the Boston Red Sox in December. He has cards dating as far back as 2013 with a tough autograph in Panini’s USA Baseball box set that’s numbered to 25.
As Spring Training comes to a close, a lot of eyes continue to be on Jordan Walker. The prospect is a possibility to be on St. Louis’ Opening Day roster.
Product-wise, 2022 Panini Prizm Football continues to do its thing. With retail blasters starting to show up, it’s opening up the release to a broader audience as well. As usual, the parallels are a major draw but there’s a lot going on with the inserts. This includes Manga’s sophomore effort, which seems to be channeling a bit of a Fleer Pro-Visions vibe as well.
