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Eyes of the World on Cooperstown

July 20, 2022 Sports Collectibles

Cooperstown, New York will be THE place to be for baseball fans this weekend with a full class of players who will be inducted as members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame‘s Class of 2022. After a 2021 Class that was non-existent, the 2022 class is headlined by some amazing baseball players. Starting off with David “Big Papi” Ortiz who is always a fan favorite. Ortiz is a three-time World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox and was the face of the franchise for years. Ortiz has always been larger than life, and even during his last year playing baseball he was putting up numbers that were better than most players have ever seen. Ortiz even helped Boston get through major tragedy after the Boston Marathon bombing, giving an inspirational speech to the crowd that will give goosebumps to listers for years to come. He is true Hall-of-Famer in every sense of the word. No matter what team you root for it was hard not to like Big Papi.

Minnie Miñoso is also going to be inducted in this years Hall of Fame class. Minnie was a Cuban born player who famously played left field for the Chicago White Sox. He was the first ever black player on the Chicago White Sox and hit a homerun on the first pitch of his first at-bat and was a star ever since. He was elected by the Golden Era Committee and will be inducted posthumously this Sunday, a feat that most baseball fans feel is long overdue.

Another candidate that will be inducted is Minnesota Twins pitcher Jim Kaat. A 16-time gold glove winner and 1982 World Series champion, Kaat pitched for over 25 years and still contributes to the game today calling baseball games for a number of television networks. Kaat pitched over 4600 inning amassing 283 wins while keeping a career 3.45 ERA. A absolute stud on the mound with his arm and his glove having the 2nd most gold gloves won by a pitcher only trailing other Hall of Famer and Atlanta Braves superstar Greg Maddux.

The Minnesota Twins will also send Tony Oliva to Cooperstown this weekend as well. Another Cuban-born player, Oliva was a two-time World Series Champion, winning 3 AL batting titles. Oliva’s first season was so amazing, he became the first ever player to win a batting title and a Rookie of the Year award as well. Oliva is also the only Minnesota Twins team member to be on all 3 World Series teams, playing outfield in 1965 and helping coach the team in 1987 and 1991. Even without as many of the bombshell stats as some Hall of Famers, Oliva was always highly regarded by all during his time as a player and beloved by all players as a coach.

As always, be sure to check out and shop our array of Autographed Baseballs, Autographed Baseball Jerseys, Autographed Baseball Bats and more at SportsCollectibles.com! Autographed Major League Baseball memorabilia and collectibles make excellent gifts for the baseball fanatics in your life.

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-Barkley is the best boy ever! He’s been with the SportsCollectibles.com team for 3 years and couldn’t imagine doing anything else! He enjoys LONG walks around the neighborhood and playing fetch. His hero is Air Bud. His favorite foods are pizza and tortilla chips. His favorite teams are the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs.

2022 MLB All-Star Game

July 18, 2022July 18, 2022 Sports Collectibles

The Midsummer Classic is finally here. The MLB figurative intermission between the season’s two acts poises to be one of the best All-Star games we have seen in a while. Los Angeles will host baseball’s biggest stars for a couple of beautiful evenings in mid-July. Pete Alonso is looking to retain his Home Run Derby Championship and become a 3-Pete Champion. Please don’t say Three-Peat around the Lightning fans in the office, too soon… Pete is challenged by seven others including ‘The Machine’ Albert Pujols and, despite his advanced age for the sport, knows Chavez Ravine well.

The All-Star Game this year is littered with some of the most talented players in baseball today. Starting with Tim Anderson of the Chicago White Sox, The Bronx Bombers Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron ‘All Rise’ Judge. One of the most exciting players in the history of the game, the two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, The Strikeout Machine of the Tampa Bay Rays, Sugar Shane McClanahan, and that is just the American League.

On the National League home side, a few of the guys won’t even have to leave their home stadium with the Los Angeles Dodgers sending Trea Turner, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Tony Gonsolin and Clayton Kershaw. They will be accompanied by long ball specialists Pete Alonso, Nolan Arenado, Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto. The National League bump will be manned by studs like Sandy Alcantara, Luis Castillo and Josh Hader, with all of them looking to take down the American League in the City of Angels.

With all of the star power, this year’s All-Star game is must-see TV viewing. Clear your calendar for Tuesday July 19th at 7pm EST because this is a can’t miss game!

Check out our MLB All-Star Mystery Baseball Deal – ending Tuesday 7/19 – For only $64.99, you’ll receive a randomly-selected authentic autographed baseball from a past or present Major League Baseball All-Star player. Some of the players you could receive include Kris Bryant, Lucas Giolito and more! Click here to shop now and for more details. Terms and Conditions may be found here.

Shop SportsCollectibles.com for all of the best autographed baseballs, autographed baseball jerseys, baseball bats, autographed photos and more!

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America and Her Pastime

July 1, 2022July 5, 2022 Sports Collectibles

With the birthday of our great country celebrated this past Monday, we look back at some of the America’s greatest gifts to the world. Creations such as Rock n’ Roll, Hollywood Movies, Internet and the Telephone have highlighted the American contribution to worldwide life. Although, there is one that tops all.
The Game of Baseball.

The history of baseball is an odd and confusing road. There are a couple different variations on who created the game, the origins of the game, and when it became an official sport. The most well-known tale of Baseball is of course Abner Doubleday starting the game in 1839 here in America. Doubleday, a cadet at West Point at the time, is widely credited as the inventor of baseball when he started the first game ever played. The game was played in Cooperstown, New York, now the home of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. To this date, the MLB and the HOF still acknowledge that Doubleday created the game.
Others though, believe there is another story to the game. According to History.com, the first-time organized baseball was seen in September of 1845. The article states, “a group of New York City men founded the New York Knickerbocker Baseball Club.” In this story, it is a man of the name Alexander Joy Cartwright that is credited with the birth of our pastime. Cartwright and company claim to have created baseball off inspiration from “rounders”, an old colonist game, and the sport of cricket. The story is that Cartwright was the one who created the rules we know of baseball today. The shape of the field, the limits of foul lines, and the number of strikes allowed per batter. In 1846 Cartwright and the Knickerbocker Baseball Club were said to play the first game of American baseball when they took on a team of cricket players.
The emergence of baseball as a traditional American sport is not the clearest story. There is still a decent amount of disagreement, even if Doubleday is credited by the MLB Hall of Fame. None the less, the sport grew in popularity and by 1869 we saw our first professional team in the Cincinnati Red Stockings. By 1876 we had the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs (modern day National League) created by William Hulbert, a wealthy Chicago businessman. The league held eight teams that include modern day Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs. In 1901 the league we know as the American League today was founded and by 1903, we had cross league play for the World Series Title.

SC.com Blog Dog:

-Tucker, a Military Brat pup hailing from Connecticut, loves going for relaxing walks, ear rubs, scratching rugs, and eating entire bowls of chicken enchilada meat before his family can eat it! A HUGE fan of the Yankees, Giants and most things New York (with the exception of a borderline-unhealthy obsession with LeBron James), TuckTuck is so excited to get to blog about his favorite thing – SPORTS, especially baseball.

Top 3 Texas Rangers Autographed Collectibles

February 28, 2019February 28, 2019 Sports Collectibles

The Texas Rangers have never hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy but did appear in back to back Fall Classics in 2010 & 2011. Despite never reaching the pinnacle of the sports, the Dallas-based organization has been a consistent top selling team for baseball memorabilia. The Rangers boast nine Hall of Fame players, most notably Nolan Ryan and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez. Although our Rangers inventory includes over 1,000 unique Texas collectibles, we narrowed the list to the Top 3 items.

3. Ivan Rodriguez Autographed Signed Rangers 35×43 Custom Framed Jersey JSA Certified Memorabilia 14X All Star

Ivan Rodriguez Autographed Jerseys are a must have for any Texas Rangers sports memorabilia collection. This white home jersey was from Pudge’s era and come framed in a 35″ by 43″ custom frame. The famous Texas “T” is tucked into each corner and on the bottom corners, there are two glossy 8×10 photo from Pudge’s Ranger days.

2. Nolan Ryan Autographed Signed Official MLB Baseball Texas Rangers 7 No Hitters and Dates Graded 10 – PSA/DNA

There are stat balls and then there is this. Honestly, with all the accolades and records Nolan accomplished, he may still writing. This Official Major League Baseball has each one of his 7 no hitters and dates. PSA/DNA has graded the overall condition of this ball as a Gem Mint 10. For a Nolan Ryan collector, it does not get much better than this one. Did we mention, he threw SEVEN no-hitters?!?

1. Nolan Ryan Autographed Signed Rangers 8×10 Photo Bloody Lip Photo

Maybe the most intimidating photo in baseball history. Nolan Ryan toeing the slab from 60 feet, 6 inches away with blood dripping from his mouth after taking a comebacker up the middle from Bo Jackson. Nothing could stop Nolan from finishing out the top of the 2nd that night. This 8×10 photo is too perfect for a Rangers fan or Nolan Ryan collector.

Browse our Rangers autographed memorabilia collection to propose your own Top 3 items. We have photos, jerseys, bats, baseballs and much more.

Chicago Cubs Trading Card Giveaway

May 12, 2017May 12, 2017 Sports Collectibles

The SportsCollectibles.com Major League Baseball giveaways roll on with a new on opening on Friday, May 12th and ending on Monday, May 15th. The item we are giving away to our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is a Signed Rookie Card by 2016 World Series Champion, Carl Edwards Jr. The trading card is a 2014 Topps Sterling and signed in blue sharpie by the young phenom. To enter the weekend giveaway: Simply LIKE on Facebook, Retweet on Twitter and LIKE on Instagram.

If you are in the market for a Chicago Cubs Signed Majestic Team Home Jersey with World Series Patch, we are the best place online to get it. SportsCollectibles.com offers insight on what to buy and what not to buy when it comes to Chicago Cubs Signed Memorabilia. Not a Cubs fan, you’ll surely find another piece of Major League Baseball Memorabilia that piques your inner-collector. Check out all of our signed pro baseball gifts and hard to find signatures.

For information on the latest autograph signings across the United States, give SigningsHub.com a look!