Acuna, Harper, The Sandlot, Topps and Adidas Shoes, Goodwill, and More | Ep. 187

Agenda Summary: Ronald Acuna to the Braves. Bryce Harper free agency. 2018 MLB attendance. The Sandlot cast reunites. Topps’ exclusive licenses. Topps and Adidas shoes. Strange Goodwill find. Mariners fan catches fly ball with a piece of fruit. Recent birthdays.

Guest: Ryan Daly

Full Agenda:

Ronald Acuna to workout at Braves Spring Training Camp (Orlando, FL). After that, he will begin a rehab assignment prior to joining the club.¹ Acuna has been on the disabled list since 5/27 after suffering a sprained ligament and contusions in his left knee and lower back when he fell running past first base in Boston.²

Bryce Harper will be a Free Agent in 2019. He’s expensive so interested teams will have to fork over the cash to buy him, which means a smaller market of guaranteed interest. He’s struggled a bit this season but currently leads the Nationals with 19 HRs.³ He’s a Face of the Franchise’ player so teams that need a guy like that will want Harper. There’s What If talk of him joining the Yankees but they just signed Giancarlo Stanton (13/yr / $325M) and they already have Aaron Judge. In 2016, Bryce Harper coined the phrase Make Baseball Fun Again,’ which was about players being able to inspire fans and future stars by showing more on-field enthusiasm.⁴

2018 MLB attendance is down 6.5% compared to last season. How can this be corrected? Fans are drawn to games to see exciting plays, which is why competitive teams draw strong attendance numbers. Teams that want more ticket sales will need to get better at acquiring the right players.⁵ Do well, draw numbers and vice versa. This is the fickle nature of sports. Another way is to lower the ticket prices.

The cast of The Sandlot reunited at Dodgers Stadium on 6/16, before the Dodgers played the Giants (Dodgers won 3-1), for the 25th Anniversary of the film’s release. After the game , they showed the film on the Dodgers Stadium screens for fans to watch.⁶

Topps’ Exclusive Licenses have been renewed to well past 2020.⁷ What this means to collectors, and why if this were any other market, Topps would be sued for violating antitrust laws (i.e., 1980 before Fleer and Donruss entered the market).⁸

Topps and Adidas partner to bring us a stylish run of baseball card-inspired cleats and trainers. Three unique styles exist, each featuring a chromed-out refractor-like finish, and baseball stats wrapped around the shoe. Prices range from $110-140 USD.⁹

7yr-old boy buys a bag of baseball cards at a Goodwill in Apple Valley, MN and finds a small packet of clear rocks. After the police investigated, it was confirmed they weren’t drugs of any kind but believed to be moisture resistant silica.¹⁰ Inspect before you donate, inspect before you shelve, and inspect before you buy.

Mariners fan catches pop-fly using a hollowed-out watermelon during a pre-game show where one lucky fan used an inanimate object to catch a ball, in this case a piece of fruit.¹¹

Birthdays:

• 6/12 – Hideki Matsui (44)
• 6/15 – Tim Lincecum (34)
• 6/16 – Wally Joyner (56)
• 6/18 – Sandy Alomar Jr. (52)
• 6/19 – Oscar Taveras (would’ve been 26)

To view the current eBay auctions for Bryce Harper baseball cards, click here.

References:

1. Braves News: Acuna headed to Orlando, Newcomb eyes All-Star invite. www.talkingchop.com ↩︎
2. Ronald Acuna will work out in Florida prior to rehab assignment. www.ajc.com ↩︎
3. Free agent-to-be Bryce Harper playing way out of $400 million deal. www.espn.com ↩︎
4. Washington Nationals: Bryce Harper needs to “Make Baseball Fun Again.” districtondeck.com ↩︎
5. Inside The Numbers: MLB’s Attendance Is Down 6.5%; Here’s How It Can Be Fixed. www.forbes.com ↩︎
6. ‘The Sandlot’ cast reunited at Dodger Stadium for the film’s 25th anniversary. www.mlb.com ↩︎
7. BREAKING NEWS: Topps & MLB Renew Exclusive License. completist.wordpress.com ↩︎
8. What are antitrust laws? www.investopedia.com ↩︎
9. Topps and adidas Are Releasing Baseball Footwear For Card Collectors. sneakernews.com ↩︎
10. Crystal-like pieces found in baseball cards at Apple Valley Goodwill not meth after all. www.startribune.com ↩︎
11. A Mariners fan was catching pop flies in the outfield with a watermelon. www.mlb.com ↩︎