This week the Phillies host the Cubs and Ryne Sandberg
will be in the dugout opposite the Cubs for the first time since
leaving the Chicago organization a few seasons ago. Well for the first
time
at the Major League level anyway - Sandberg managed the
Phillies AAA Lehigh Valley affiliate prior to 2013 and possibly faced
a lower level Cubs affiliate.
The trade of Ryne Sandberg by the Phillies to the Cubs in 1982 is often mentioned when the Phillies worst trade converstions arise. He was part of a deal that brought Ivan DeJesus to Philadelphia, DeJesus was part of the 1983 National League Champions. In my opinion any deal that garners a League Championship cannot be looked upon totally unfavorably.
Hall of Fame
Ryno of course went on to have a Hall of Fame career. His 16 MLB seasons included 10 all-star appearances, 9 Gold Gloves ,and 7 Silver Sluggers all at second base. Sandberg finished his career with 282 home runs. 277 of those were as a second baseman, good enough for the position record at the time of his 1997 retirement (a number surpassed by Jeff Kent in 2004). In addtion to being a threat at the plate and on defensive Sandberg was also adept on the basebaths with 344 career SBs including 54 in 1985. .
The Cubs reached the postseason twice during Sandberg's career in 1984 and 1989. Those two season are of course both part of the Cubs long World Series drought.
There are a number of non-mainstream Ryne Sandberg cards issued prior to 1983. These include his 1980 TCMA Reading Phillies card. 1983 featured cards from Donruss Fleer and Topps.
In off condition I found the Topps Sandberg RC for under $3. Not sure if that is a good deal for a card that can also be found in decent condition at reasonable prices. There are a dozen auctions of this card that ended under $5.
Graded Card Pricing
| Grade | $Price | Pop |
| PSA 7 NM | $7.25 | 1 |
| PSA 8 NM-MT | $7.55 | 1 |
| PSA 8 NM-MT | $8.25 | 1 |
| PSA 8 NM-MT | < $10.06 | 15 |
| PSA 10 MINT | $303 | 1 |
Ryne Sandberg HoF Index
1991 Score #815
1997 Topps Chrome (Card Show Dimers)
2005 UD Classics #125 managerial debut
2013 Topps Archives #48 (1972 Topps retro/blaster break)
2014 Heritage #57
2015 Heritage #411 - Rhyming card with 1966T Gene Mauch
Sources
$3 for a clean 83T Ryne Sandberg rookie? What the heck is the cardworld coming to? I'm glad I don't see these deals on a regular basis... otherwise I'd be holding onto hundreds of Sandberg rookies.
ReplyDeleteThe $3 ones were in rough condition. The graded ones for under $10 surprised me though.
ReplyDeleteSandberg is probably a little less pricy now because the Cubs are down, but still under $10 for a HOF RC in good condition? cmon.